Sea of Corrie

2011-07-21T13:09:00.001-05:00

I need a place to write. I need an outlet for all the thoughts that swirl in my head non-stop. Here is a link to my new blog... Once Upon a Nap Time.

http://onceuponanaptime.blogspot.com

Alive and kicking

2010-07-20T13:25:00.004-05:00

Hello, friends. Just wanted to let you all know that we're alive and kicking! We are staying busy and LOVING each other! This is your official notice that the blog is going to be shut down for a while. You'll still be able to access it, of course, but I will no longer be posting. At least until further notice. Also, I've taken Facebook off my iPhone. That thing takes up WAY too much time. My Facebook postings will only be occasional from now on. It is freeing to me to "cut" some of my technology ties and just really focus on what is real and present in my life. Maybe I'll go back to blogging someday, but maybe I won't. I'll still enjoy reading your blogs on occasion! And I'll leave you with two recent pictures of the three reasons I've decided to focus more time on the here and now...

6 months2 1/2 years old

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-09T15:58:00.006-05:00

The Swagger Wagon

2010-05-06T12:25:00.001-05:00

As a minivan Sienna owner this one hits home.

What you see........

2010-04-19T08:45:00.001-05:00

What you see is me wearing cute, spring dresses to work.

What you don’t see is me trying on all of my dress pants to find that none of them fit and knowing there is truly no time for me to do anything about it right now.

What you see is a precious, curly-headed two-year old who is as sharp as a tack.

What you don’t see is her throwing another tantrum or me losing my patience with her for failing to remember her potty again! You don’t see my sadness when she says, “Mommy, I want to hold you!” and I can’t hold her because one of her brothers is screaming.

What you see are twin boys who are as cute as can be and growing every day!

What you don’t see is me falling asleep as I’m feeding one of them in the middle of the night. And me truly praying for the day when they will both sleep all night! You don’t see my worry that they don’t know how much I love and care for them.

What you see is an organized household.

What you don’t see is the tremendous help I get from my husband, my mom and dad, my mother and father-in-law, and other family members. You also don’t see the things I have to “let go”.

What you see is a mom and a wife who “has it all together”.

What you don’t see are the tears of worry and stress. You don’t hear the countless pep talks I give myself and others give me. You don’t see the offense I run to stay one step ahead of the next dilemma, problem or issue. You don’t (yet) see the gray hairs that have started sprouting on my crown.

If you look really closely at my life and my family, you will see a woman (who still can’t believe she’s old enough to be married and have three children) trying her VERY best day in and day out to be a high-quality person, wife, mom and friend. If you listen really closely, you will hear me asking God multiple times a day to bless me in those endeavors.

Brothers!!

2010-04-17T20:04:00.002-05:00

My heart on the couch...

2010-04-11T08:29:00.001-05:00

Two Easter Pics...

2010-04-04T21:06:00.002-05:00

This first picture is our family of 5 dressed and ready to go to church on Easter Sunday morning. This was the boys' first trip to church, and they did great! Reid was awake for most of the service while Chase mostly slept. R held Chase and I held Reid. At one point, C wanted to be held too, so while standing and singing, I held them BOTH! Whew! Arm workout! And just a bit of advice for folks...When you see a tired looking mommy and daddy with many small children, don't say, "Gosh, you've got your hands full!" or "Bless your heart!" Say something more encouraging like, "What a beautiful family!" or "God has truly blessed you!" Thanks!

This picture CRACKS me up (pun totally intended!) While hunting eggs this afternoon, C couldn't keep her pants up! I snapped the picture just in time to catch a glimpse of the Minnie Mouse undies! He he! Such a cutie!

Nap mat!

2010-03-23T09:45:00.004-05:00

Big Sister C is starting preschool on April 6th! The kids take a nap in the afternoon, so she needed a nap mat. I looked online and found MANY that were over $100! The bedding on her real bed at home didn't cost that much, so I wasn't about to spend that much on a nap mat! Seriously! SO I did some looking on Etsy.com and found a nap mat that was much more affordable BUT it was in a zebra print that wasn't really our style. I wanted something a little more classic that will last us a couple of years. I sent a message to the seller to see if she'd be interested in doing a custom nap mat for us. She sent me a message back almost immediately and was really awesome to work with. I told her what I was looking for and here is what she came up with for us...

Needless to say, C LOVES it and thinks she has to nap on it every day when she is at home. It is super-soft, classic and machine washable. AND it didn't break the bank!

Check out the Etsy shop here!

Announcement

2010-03-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

I mailed the boys' birth announcement last Monday, so I think they've had time to reach their destinations. Angela @ Paisley Prints did an awesome job with them and was super easy to work with!!

2010-03-02T16:17:00.005-06:00

Today was a hard day. Not complaining. Just documenting. I had all three children at home all day by myself. That in and of itself isn't a HUGE deal. BUT Chase had an insatiable hunger all day and was only content when he was being held. And Big Sister C is potty training and needs lots of monitoring and reminders to avoid accidents. And when I'm not looking, the dogs drink out of her little potty. SICK! And Big Sister C is also TWO. And she acts like it at inopportune moments throughout the day. Reid was a good boy today and was easy-going for the most part. It didn't help things that I was up with the boys from 4:00-5:45 this morning and then up with C at 7. So in reality, I got up at 4 and never really got good and back to sleep. There was no rest for the weary today. Thankfully, Daddy came home at lunch to check on us. He held Chase while I fixed lunch for me and C. He gave me a pep talk, a hug and some reassurance. I am thankful for his support.

I am thankful for my kids. I still can't believe I have 3! I just wish it wasn't so hard to care for them. It wouldn't be so hard, but I'm a perfectionist. Mom reminded me that me on a bad day is better than some folks on a good day. I just want to do a good job. I want everyone to have their needs met, and with three little ones depending on ME and only ME it is just hard. I wish I didn't get stressed or tired. I wish this was super-easy. But it isn't.

SO I made it through the day. R is home now and has given me a break. We had a non-healthy dinner. Just add it to the list of reasons I won't get the mom of the year award!

Here are a few pics of my little sweeties. C is a snow-bunny in our backyard a week ago. The pics of the boys were taken by me and sweet Lauren during an impromptu photo shoot last week. These are two that I didn't use on their birth announcement but are really cute anyway.

Two Videos

2010-02-17T11:27:00.002-06:00

Video #1
Several weeks ago on American Idol, a gentleman did a song called "Pants on the Ground"! It was an instant hit at our house. His version says, "Pants on the ground! Pants on the ground! Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground!"

Ryan changed the words to be a bit more appropriate for our toddler and here is her version! She sings it ALL the time now!

Video #2
And here is a quick video of R&C playing and listening to music! They have been more alert lately and wide-eyed! LOVE these little guys!!

One Month Old!

2010-02-14T09:39:00.007-06:00

In honor of my boys turning one month old today, I thought I'd post their birth story and birth-day pictures!

January 14, 2010

Ryan and I arrived at the hospital at our appointed time—5:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. We had gotten up at about 4:15 to get ready for our big day. I don’t think either one of us slept great, but we were thankful for the sleep we did get.

Here’s my final belly photo before we left for the hospital.

Check-in at the hospital was fast and easy. The nurse immediately led us to the recovery room where I would be prepped for surgery. They had new gowns this time (very fashionable!) and it was there that we waited. One nurse came in and tried to start my IV twice. She blew two veins. I got really sick feeling because it hurt so bad for her to be digging around in both of my arms with a needle. They got me a cold washcloth, told me to take deep breaths, and laid me down to try and get some color back in me. Ryan said (after the fact, of course) that I looked just awful. Thankfully another nurse was successful on the third try and they got the IV started and fluids cranking! I had to answer the usual barrage of questions that made me laugh! I guess they have to ask them! They put two drugs in my IV to help with nausea after the delivery, and I had to drink some icky-sour stuff to take care of anything that was left in my tummy. The nurse told me to do it just like a shot. I told her I’d never done a shot, so that advice was kind of lost on me! Ryan gave me a little coaching and I threw it back.

The anesthesiologist came in and introduced himself and went over all the necessary paperwork and procedures. I don’t remember his name, but he was AWESOME! Seriously. He put me completely at ease and made me feel good about what was coming!

My mom, dad, brother and sister-in-law all got to come back and say hello before everything commenced. Everyone was smiling and just beyond excited!

One of the big blessings of the day came in the form of the nurses. There was one nurse assigned to me and then one nurse for each of the boys. My nurse was named Lori and she was so encouraging. I needed to feel good about my nurse after the incident with the IV earlier in the morning. Lori came on duty fresh at 7 a.m. and was awesome! A sweet and special friend (not to mention one of the nicest people I know) was there to be the nurse for Chase! Mimi kept my mind occupied and kept things light. She will never know how much her presence for the birth of my boys meant to me.

Everyone was just standing around waiting on the doctor to arrive, and when he did we were ready to roll! I kissed Ryan and told him I’d see him soon. We made certain that someone would keep Ryan informed if by chance the spinal block didn’t take and he wouldn’t be allowed to join us in the O.R. I think this was around 7:40.

The O.R. was just as I remembered--white with lots of bright lights. The part of the WHOLE deal I had been dreading the most was about to happen. I was beyond nervous about the spinal block. I was so worried it wouldn’t take. As the anesthesiologist prepped my back, Mimi held me in a hug and let me lean up against her. She kept talking to me and kept my mind off of what was going on behind me. Because of that, it all seemed to happen really quickly. The doctor gave me a small shot to numb my back after he had prepped the area. I remember a little bit of pressure, but nothing like the pain I had prepared myself for. As soon as it was in, they laid me down really quickly as I started to feel my legs go to sleep. Lori immediately put in a catheter and the anesthesiologist monitored the success of the spinal block. Within about 30 seconds I started feeling really, REALLY nauseous. I also felt like someone was sitting on my chest. They put an oxygen cannula on my nose and told me to breathe deeply. He also gave me something in my IV to help with the nausea. I was trying to be so strong, as the medicine took its effect on my body. Even though it seemed like it took a while, I’m sure the relief came pretty quickly. I was able to really relax as soon as Dr. M checked to make sure I couldn’t feel anything and Mimi went to get Ryan. The drape was up and I knew they were ready to get to work!

When Ryan got there, I knew the spinal block had been a success and that he’d be able to be present for the birth of the boys. He rubbed my head and talked to me while the doctors went to work. When he got distracted and stopped stroking my hair, I would gently remind him and he’d continue. Mimi kept me informed of what was happening and the anesthesiologist checked on me to make sure I was doing okay. She told me that he had already removed my old scar. I was so shocked because I really hadn’t felt anything. I was so worried that I would be able to feel something, but I didn’t.

I do remember hearing something that sounded like scissors cutting, but again, I didn’t feel anything. Dr. M told Ryan that he could stand up and watch if he wanted to and much to my surprise, he did! The next thing I knew, there were two nurses pressing down on my rib cage. It felt like they were trying to squeeze all the air out of my lungs. They told me that they were trying to get “A” out and “B” was trying to come out at the same time! The pressure on my ribs eased up as I heard “Baby A 8:20 a.m.” Within seconds, I heard Reid’s first cry. His nurse showed him to me—all wet and gooey—before whisking him over to clean him up and check him out. The next thing I knew, I heard “Baby B 8:21 a.m.” and heard Chase’s first cry. Mimi showed me Chase before she got to work on him. I remember her commenting on how much hair Chase had.

During the next few minutes, I probably asked Ryan 10 times if the boys were okay. He didn’t get annoyed with me and continued to assure me that they were fine. They had Apgar scores of 8 and 9 and 9 and 9. I heard Mimi say that Chase weighed 7 pounds and 12 ounces. I couldn’t believe he was so big! I had to ask about Reid and was thrilled when I heard he was 6 pounds and 14 ounces. Mimi let Ryan take pictures of Chase and come back over to my head and show them to me. Chase’s cry sounded like a puppy dog. I don’t remember hearing Reid cry much at first. Once the boys were cleaned up, checked out and wrapped up, I got to see Ryan hold both of them. We had our picture made together and I felt such a huge sense of relief and happiness at that moment. Dr. M kept working on me this whole time, but I was too distracted with the boys to even notice. Ryan then went with the boys and the nurses into the recovery room and helped with their first baths. They finished with me and got everything sewed up, and before I knew it, I had joined them in the recovery room. Ryan had already gone out to the waiting room to share the great news with everyone!

Here I am holding my boys for the very first time!

After about an hour in recovery, I got to do something that I never want to forget. Holding both of my boys and having my husband walk beside me, I got to be wheeled through the waiting room past the people I love most in the world and introduce them to the boys! We were just able to stop for a couple of minutes, but those people had the biggest smiles on their faces! I hope I never forget that feeling!

Falling in love with Reid...

Falling in love with Chase...

Chase on the left and Reid on the right.
Big Sister C on her way to the hospital to meet her brothers for the very first time!

Our first picture as a family of five! This isn't really how I envisioned it. I planned to have makeup on and to have showered BUT the night before had been ROUGH (obviously!) and this is what we ended up with!

And now an entire month has passed since that blessed event! Someone told us yesterday that we've made it through the toughest month. It has had its moments of stress and delirium, but it has had many more moments of joy and happiness. We look forward to ALL that is to come!

always...

2010-02-07T09:41:00.003-06:00

Big Sister C

Brother #1 RM

Brother #2 CL

The dishwasher is always running...

The washing machine is always full...

Someone always needs to be fed...

Someone always needs a new diaper...

We could always use more sleep...

Someone is always available to snuggle...

There are kissable cheeks always ready...

There is always purpose in the seemingly mundane tasks of the day...

There is always wonder in the three pairs of eyes looking up at me...

Our house is full of love...

...always!

Pics & A Video

2010-02-04T08:27:00.003-06:00

Howdy! RM & CL are 3 weeks old today! They are spending more time awake and taking in the world. I love it when they stare into my eyes! They are still not exactly sleeping and waking on the same schedule, but we're working on it. They are still eating well and other bodily functions are working just fine too! Sister C is still the Queen Bee around here. You will see in the video below that she's QUITE the singer at our house. She's very musically inclined! American Idol, maybe? I'm sure Simon could appreciate her rendition of "Home on the Range"! The doritos all over her face add a nice touch, don't you think?

Here are a few pics of the brothers!

The boys' first trip to the doctor exactly one week ago. At 2 weeks, RM weighed 7.5 pounds and CL weighed 8 pounds. You can see in the above picture that CL has a ton of hair! I told him that he may need a haircut before he's 6 weeks old!

I could NOT be smiling and surviving without Ryan. He's been SO supportive through my emotional/hormonal mess, and he's helping an incredible amount after working all day. We've been taking turns with one of us putting the boys to bed and then the other one getting up for the middle of the night feeding. We're both tired (duh!) but we're making it. Seriously, though, he's INCREDIBLE. I'm so blessed!!

I'm slowly working on a post about the day the boys' were born. So many of you prayed for that day and I want you to know how wonderfully it went. I also have a belly pic to share of the day they were born. Holy smokes! I was so large!

I've been updating Facebook with pictures WAY more often than the blog because I can easily do it from my phone rather than sitting at the computer, so if you want to keep up with us and we aren't friends on FB, just send me a friend request! I'll try to update the blog more frequently, but let's be realistic. It probably isn't going to happen any time soon!

All is well on the homefront!

2010-01-29T21:45:00.003-06:00

Hey y'all! Just a QUICK post to let you all know that all is well with us. The boys went for their two-week check up yesterday. RM weighs 7.5 pounds and CL weighs 8 pounds. They are both growing and gaining weight! They are eating 4 oz. every 3-4 hours and sleeping for 4 hour stretches at night. We're sleepy, but we're not complaining! They are sweet, sweet boys! Sister C is precious and continues to keep us laughing. When she said her prayers tonight, she thanked God for the muffin man! The Daddy is a champ and is helping so much! We make a great team! Schnauzers are enjoying plenty of couch time and are currently snuggled by the fire. I'm feeling better (emotionally and physically!) and feel better each day. It is no secret that the "new-newborn" stage isn't my very favorite, but I'm doing my best to enjoy every moment since these are the last newborns I'll ever have! :) I'll try to get some pictures posted before too long. I'm taking plenty of pics, but I haven't had time to upload and edit them. The new story of my life!

Have a great weekend!

Emotional Onslaught!

2010-01-23T21:36:00.003-06:00

Dangit! I knew this would happen. Surge-o-the-hormones! Post-partum is stinky for that sort of thing. Stinkier than a bunch of diapers! UGH! They hit me out of nowhere this afternoon. I just knew I HAD to get out of the house and have a good cry. I've been weepy a couple of times since we've been home, but this was my first all-out boo-hoo. R told me to go--he and mom had things completely under control. The boys were sleeping and C was quietly watching a video. It wasn't like things were bad. Everyone was doing fine. I took a drive to Sonic to get some drinks for R and C and then went by McAlister's for some tea for me and mom. I talked to Audrey on the phone. I don't think I even listened to the radio. I was gone for about 10 minutes and R and mom could of course tell I had been crying. It all started back up again when they asked me what was wrong.

The thing is, nothing is really wrong. Everything is fine, and the rational part of me knows that. I'm blessed. I love my children. I'm thankful for the help I'm getting. Everything is going to be fine. It was just like I couldn't get a hold of myself, though. I couldn't get a grip! I even knew that my tears and fears were part of a hormone surge and yet I couldn't dry it up. So, R sent me, C and mom out for the evening. I initially refused to go. After some coaxing, I reluctantly went in hopes that a little fresh air with my two best girls (C and mom) would do me some good. We went to the mall and walked around. C had a blast walking up and down stairs and chasing us around. Mom bought me some non-pregnancy, non-granny panties. Nothing like some pretty undies to make a gal feel a little better about life. We topped off the evening with dinner at Jason's Deli. C ate SO GREAT and it was just nice to be out and around people. We got home to a daddy who had managed two boys just fine.

We've had some fussy, fussy boys since we got home, so the outing was timely in helping me deal with the serious bouts of non-stop crying. I'm currently "wearing" Reid (love the Bjorn!) and R is managing Chase. We'll start our bathtime routine before too long and do our last feeding before bed. I'm praying that our sleep will be rejuvenating and give us all the energy we need for tomorrow!

Quick Update

2010-01-22T21:45:00.004-06:00

Hello there from twin-land! Just wanted to write a quick update to let everyone know we are well and adjusting to life with two infants! The boys are sweet dream-babies. They do a lot of eating and sleeping with some pooping and peeing in between. We've had some activity time with music and toys, but they really aren't too interested. My mom has been here with us all week, and I can't convey how thankful I am for that. She'll be here this next week too and then go home next weekend. If you think about it, pray for when she goes home. It is going to be tough for all of us, but I know it has to happen eventually! C is doing really well with her new brothers, again, thanks for the prayers on that!

Here are a few pictures from the week...

January 14, 2010

2010-01-16T16:50:00.005-06:00

Because of Facebook, text and email I APOLOGIZE for neglecting the blog! And the past two days have been a whirlwind! Here's why you are all here anyway...
Chase on the left and Reid on the right.

Reid Michael Searight

Born at 8:20 a.m.

6 lb. 14 oz.

19 3/4" long

Chase Logan Searight

Born at 8:21 a.m.

7 lb. 12 oz.

19 1/2" long

We're well and home! Both boys are fantastic and just as cute as they can be (if you ask me)! I am in love! They are wonderful little guys! They enjoy eating, peeing/pooping and burping. :) Excellent boys!

C loves her brothers! She's happy as a cricket! My mom will be here for 2 weeks--thank you, Lord! R's mom is close by so she's been here this afternoon so R and I were able to nap. It was DIVINE!

We are praising God for ALL our blessings! My cup runneth over!

My Feelings at T Minus 36 Hours

2010-01-12T20:08:00.002-06:00

Hey there! Yes, t minus 36 hours. No, I'm not joking. Today has been the first time I've really let myself get a little bit nervous. Before, I've been able to just push it from my mind and focus on other things that are more immediate. For the sake of transparency and so I can look back and marvel at how God has taken care of things, I thought I'd share some of my thoughts.

Things I'm nervous/uneasy about...

-I'm nervous about my surgery. You may or may not remember, but when I had my c-section with C, my spinal block didn't take and I had to be put completely under. I don't remember anything about her birth. Because I had to be put under general anesthesia, R wasn't able to be in the room when C was born. The general anesthesia also made me really nauseous afterward. As much as I want to be awake when they are born and as much as I want R to be in there when they are born, I'm just nervous about it. I can't really put my finger on why, but I know I am. I think I'm afraid that I'll start to "feel it" halfway through or something. I know that is silly! I love my doctor and know he'll do a great job--even though he's a Longhorn and may sing "The Eyes of Texas" to the boys as he pulls them out!

-Nervous isn't the right word for this, but I'm anxious or dreading the hormonal onslaught that is inevitable after giving birth. There are SO many feelings--some rational and many irrational. You feel a deep love for the new life but you are also dealing with pain and the regulation of bodily functions. You are overwhelmed by the the love and care of family and friends. You are overwhelmed that you've just been given the responsibility of a child, or in our case, children.

-I'm a little nervous about C and how she'll deal with all of this change and newness. My mom asked me earlier, though, how I felt when my little brother was born when I was almost two. I immediately said, "I don't even remember when he was born!" She said, "Exactly!" I know C will be fine. She is my #1 girl and always will be. I love that!! I won't be able to pick her up and love on her for several weeks, but I hope we'll have plenty of time for snuggling without her being sad that I can't pick her up. Thankfully she has REALLY taken to R the past few weeks which is a huge blessing!

-I'm a smidge nervous about feeding these boys. My goal is for them to get the colostrum initially and then for me to pump once my milk comes in, but I only plan to do that for a week or so. Breastfeeding did not work with C and I put WAY too much pressure on myself to make it work. I'm going into this with a much better mentality, but hormones do have a tendency to cloud things in "the moment". How am I going to nurse both of them at first? I mean I know there are two "hook-ups", but I don't think I'm cool or coordinated enough to do both of them at once. Hopefully the lactation consultant will be supportive of my wishes and will be helpful in getting the boys a weeks worth of colostrum and breast milk.

Things I'm BEYOND excited about...

-I can't wait to see these boys!! At last Friday's sonogram, we got a good shot of Reid and I'll be dog-goned if the little guy doesn't look exactly like his big sister!! I should probably just accept the fact that I'm going to get three kids who look exactly like their father! :) Good thing he is handsome! We were also told that both boys have HAIR! I can't wait to see if it is dark or light or curly or straight.

-I'm SO excited to give my husband TWO sons! It has been no secret that we really only "planned" to have two children. God knew that if He didn't give us two at one time on this go-round that we'd have our two and be done. My husband is an amazing daddy and nothing thrills me more than to give him two sons! He loves his baby girl (of course!) but I know he'll revel in his role as the daddy of boys!

-I am thrilled that this isn't our "first rodeo"! Yes, it is our first time to do two at once, but we've got some tricks up our sleeves and won't panic as much with every little thing. I feel so much more relaxed about bringing Reid and Chase home and making them a part of our family. We've actually got an idea of what we're doing this time. I mean, we aren't completely clueless! I guess what I'm saying is that everything was an "unknown" last time. The "knowns" outnumber the "unknowns" this go-round and that puts my mind at ease!

So those are the thoughts floating around in my head this evening. This was our last "normal" evening at home as a family of 3 since tomorrow night C will be with R's parents! C and I spent a good hour outside this afternoon playing on the playground, digging in the sand, and watching airplanes fly over the house. I cooked one of our favorite family dinners and everyone ate well. C was extremely tired when we put her to bed, but I enjoyed listening to her "sing" herself to sleep. My mom will be here in the morning to spend the day with me. It will be SO nice to have her company! We're going to get mani/pedis, eat lunch, and run any last minute errands. I think R and I may go out on a dinner date tomorrow evening. We have to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, so sleep tomorrow night may be a little sketchy. I know we'll both be pumping with nerves and adrenaline! The surgery is scheduled to begin around 7:30 on Thursday morning, so any prayers around that time will be appreciated!

Making my list and checking it twice...

2010-01-09T21:07:00.002-06:00

No, no, not that kind of list. Christmas is over. This is my "List of Things To Do Before the Boys Arrive"! I thought I'd let you guys know how I'm doing on it! (And these are in no particular order!)

1. Finish writing all of the thank you notes for baby gifts received to this point.
Done. Just stamped and sealed the last one. I know I'll have more to write after the boys come, but at least I'm caught up.

2. Finish writing all of the thank you notes from C's birthday.
Done. And BTW, I was very proud of myself for being so thrifty on this one. I ordered her invites and it was a 25 minimum order. I'm pretty sure we sent out less than 10 since we just had family in attendance, so I wrote the thank-yous on the backs of the extra invitations.

3. Pack for the hospital.
Done. I did it on Friday morning before I went to the doctor and took the bag with me just in case I needed it. I've had to take a few things out that I'll have to put back before we go for the real-deal on Thursday, but the majority is done. I even bought snacks for me and R and have them bagged up and ready to go. I also have a small bag packed for the boys with their coming-home outfits and monogrammed caps inside. I also wrapped the gift the boys will give C when she comes to meet them at the hospital and have that ready to go. I have the gifts she will bring to them, but I don't think I'll bother with wrapping. They won't care!

4. Re-read "On Becoming Babywise".
Working on it. I've done about 1/3 and it is all coming back to me. I hope to read a little more early in the week so I'm all brushed up!

5. Get a haircut.
Going on Tuesday at 10 a.m. Don't want the boys to meet me with shaggy hair!

6. Shave my legs.
Done, but will probably need to be done again before Thursday. Just in case you are wondering why this is even on the list, it is because it is SUCH an ordeal for me to shave. I can't do it in the shower (no balance) so I have to sit in the tub. WELL the problem with that is that I can't get out of the tub on my own, so R has to be home when I do it so he can help me get up and out!

7. Make arrangements for C.
This is kind of half done and half undone. She is going to spend the night with R's parents on Wednesday night and then they are going to drop her off at Nana's on their way to the hospital on Thursday morning. Our goal is to keep her "routine" as close to normal as possible. I'm pretty sure I want her to wait until Friday morning to come up to the hospital and meet her brothers because by then they will have removed all of my IVs and she won't be scared. I'm not sure who will keep her on Thursday night. I'm not sure I want to make that decision. I just want to do what is easiest and less stressful for HER! I think I'm going to put R in charge of making the arrangements.

8. Get a mani/pedi.
Yes, this sounds silly, but I got a gift certificate for my birthday and I know it will be a while before I'm able to use it again. I got a pedi the day before C was born, so I plan to do this on Wednesday morning! When C was born I got PINK toes, so I think I'll go with RED this time!

9. Write C's two-year old letter for her baby book and write a "night before you were born" letter to each of the boys.
C's letter will hopefully get done sooner now that the thank-you notes aren't filling my evening time. I will write the boys' letters on Wednesday evening after we drop C off at R's parents' house. I'm doubting sleep will come easy that night anyway, and this plan will give me something productive to do!

This list is kind of the way I'm coping with all of the unknowns that will hit me within the next week. I've got some nerves about the surgery and the actual birth. I've got some nerves about the recovery. I've CERTAINLY got nerves about bringing TWO newborns home from the hospital. I'm nervous about how C will react to her two new baby brothers. I'm nervous about how short-term pumping for twins is going to work for me.

We're going to take things one day (one hour? one moment?) at a time and try to enjoy each and every piece of the adventure since these are the last babies we'll have at our house! I pray that God will continue to calm my heart and my nerves as I continue to place my trust in Him!

Perspective, A Princess & A Party!

2010-01-05T10:30:00.000-06:00

Perspective...
Have you seen on the ticker that we've crossed into single digits? WHOA! Very exciting! As time for the boys' arrival draws nearer well-meaning people have made some comments that have got me thinking!

"Enjoy these last few days with just you and R and C..."

"Life as you know it is about to really change! Enjoy these last few days..."

"Your family size is almost doubling in a few days. Enjoy it now while you can..."

What's funny is that probably some of the same well-meaning people made similar comments the week before C was born. Back then, the comments REALLY freaked me out. I thought, "OH MY GOSH, is life going to be over when she's born? Why do people keep saying that to me?" I may have even panicked a little bit!

Luckily, this time I have some more perspective. I know that our life DID change after C was born and that it 100% changed for the better. You couldn't pay me any amount of money to go back to "life" before C. I don't think back on the days before she was a part of our life and want for them. On the contrary, it is hard for me to even remember a time when she wasn't the joy of our family.

And I know it is going to be the same way with the boys joining us soon. It will be hard for us to remember a time when they weren't with us. We won't long for the days when they weren't a part of our family. They are going to add another layer of depth and love and richness to our already blessed family. We couldn't be more excited!!!

A Party...
I had to share a couple of pictures from C's second birthday party! Gammy made her precious cupcake dress and we formed the party "theme" around it! She was in a fantastic humor for the entire party and loved being the center of attention. Thanks to Uncle Mike & Aunt Teresa for hosting the party at their house!

Hands-down, her favorite gift was her BACKPACK! As soon as she opened it, I told her it was a backpack like Dora's and she was SOLD! She loves it and wants to wear it all the time! You can see in the second picture that she also got a coordinating lunchbox! She's got both of them filled with all kinds of treasures!

You can see in this picture that she was a HUGE fan of the cupcakes and the frosting! At her first birthday last year, she couldn't get past having a little frosting on her fingers in order to actually enjoy the cake. She's certainly gotten over that issue!

Another one of her favorite gifts was a treasure-trove of princess jewels and dress-up clothes! I mean, what little girly-girl isn't wowed by some bling? She had me wear the crown while she did her "magic" with her wand. I LOVED being able to be right in the middle of the action and helping her open all of her gifts. She was so excited about everything!

A Princess...
Once we got home from the party, ALL the dress-up clothes came out! She prissed around the house and even insisted on wearing the hat! Here's the "princess face" too!

And just for anyone worried about this princess getting de-throned in 9 days, I want to give you all the assurances I can muster...You've got NOTHING to worry about! She's got her daddy wrapped so tightly around her little finger (okay, and probably her mommie too!) that although she'll have some adjustments to make, she's still going to ALWAYS be our Princess!!

Where the boys are...

2010-01-03T19:36:00.000-06:00

(or, rather, where they will be soon!)

I want to take y'all on a tour of the boys' nursery. I am not a decorator by any stretch of the imagination, but we've pulled it all together around a few colors (navy, red and khaki) and a sports theme. I must say that I'm so happy with how it turned out. I think it is very much "us" and I'm hopeful it will be very "them" too! :)

First up, currently hanging on the door of their room is the MAGNIFICENT birthday banner that my mom painted! This will hang on the door of our hospital room while we are there and then on the front door of our home on their birthday for years to come. Didn't she do an awesome job?

When you open the door to their bedroom, this is what you see when you look to the left. That is Chase's side of the room. He has two framed pictures on his wall. One is a Texas flag with A&M instead of the star framed in barn wood, and the other is the picture of the Red, White & Blue Out picture taken at the Aggie football game after 9/11. R and I were both at that game and are therefore in the picture (somewhere!) My Grandaddy made the barn wood frame for that picture. You can also see the sports-themed lamp in this picture. The "pull" on the lamp is a coach's whistle! Too cute! I bought the letters for their names on-line and then painted them myself. We all know I'm not crafty like my mom, but I'm proud of how the letters turned out!

To the right you see Reid's side of the room. His crib is identical. My mom made the bedding and curtain of course! I'll show the wall-hangings in more detail below.

This awesome wall-hanging was put together by R's mom. The sweatshirt in the shadow box was made by R's grandma in the mid-eighties, and I am told he wore it CONSTANTLY. It fit in the room perfectly, and it is so special to have such a treasure hanging in the boys' room. I'm not sure if it is cross-stitch or some other kind of needle-work, but it certainly has history in our family!

Next to the sweatshirt on Reid's wall you will see four rustic sports-themed signs from Hobby Lobby! Audrey and I found them when she was here, but I didn't buy them then. I later regretted it so I sent my dad back to find them. He followed directions really well and got them for his first grandsons! R had quite a time hanging them up, but I think they look awesome!

Here is the center of the room--R's pride and joy! It is a rug that is a replica of the basketball court at A&M's Reed Arena. I've mentioned this on here before, but after we got it R wanted to order another one for the living room. I hated to be the one to crush his dreams, but one per house is plenty! He'll have the boys doing ball drills as soon as possible I'm sure!

This picture was taken looking from between the baby beds to the opposite side of the room (where the door is)! You can see the bookshelf my dad made out of old barn wood and bead board, the picture of my Grandaddy and his twin brother (framed in barn wood by my Grandaddy), and the awesome changing table/dressing table R's parents bought for C's room. We took off the closet door to make more space, so my mom made the curtain to match the bedding.

The last things I want to showcase from their room are the quilts my mom and Gran Gran made for them. This first one is the one my mom started working on as soon as she learned I was pregnant. She stitched the design on each square in red thread. Each square has a little boy with his dog (a schnauzer) and then some squares have a flag as well. Once she got all of the squares stitched and sewn together, my Gran Gran hand quilted the quilt. What a treasure this first quilt is. Below the picture of the whole quilt you can see a picture of a square up-close!

And then on that fateful day we learned that we were expecting not one but TWO children, my mom started working on a second quilt. You see, C has her own and according to my mom, it wouldn't do for the twins to have to share one! Here is the second one. This one has maroon stitching on it instead of red but still has the little boy with his little dog in each square. This one was also hand quilted by my Gran Gran.
For the time being, both boys will use both quilts. What a SPECIAL gift they have been given. When they get married and have their own homes someday, they can decide who wants which one!

So that is the tour, folks. Obviously these are very special and very loved boys. We can't wait to meet them and enjoy learning about their little personalities. We hope they will enjoy their room! It is kind of small but much love has gone into putting it together and making it just right for them!

Catch up on posts!

2010-01-01T20:32:00.001-06:00

Here are links to the three Christmas posts I finally got put up this evening! Wouldn't want you to miss one! :)

Christmas Morning

Happy Birthday to Jesus & Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas at Gammy & Pops'

Christmas Morning!

2010-01-01T20:30:00.000-06:00

R and I decided after C was born that we would make every effort to have our child(ren) wake up at their own home on Christmas morning. Thankfully, our families are supportive of this and this year was no exception! This year, we didn't "play up" the Santa thing simply because she wasn't interested. She didn't have her picture made with him and when someone would ask, "Is Santa coming to your house?" she would quickly say, "Nope!" We're not going to push the issue, but she did wake up on Christmas morning to find the following spread...
It is funny, because I wracked my brain to come up with cool things that I thought she would like. The very last gift I bought (as an afterthought, honestly) is the "Little Einsteins" action figures. They were on sale for $8.00 at the Disney Outlet store. As you can guess, that was probably her favorite gift. At least, we had to convince her to put June, Annie, and Rocket down so we could open the rest of her gifts!

One of the gifts she got from Mommie & Daddy was a Magna-Doodle. We've decided it is one of the most perfect gifts ever--it isn't messy, it is compact and she can erase and draw, erase and draw to her heart's content!

She also got her first set of Duplo/Leggo blocks. We've had the best time since then building all kinds of towers and bridges. Maybe we have a budding architect on our hands?

My Aunt had given me a recipe for monkey bread that I had been dying to try but could never justify making it for just a regular morning, I decided to try it out on Christmas morning and it didn't disappoint. Fortunately, R's parents live close by and were able to come and share some of the gooey-goodness! They also got to see C's presents and enjoy her Christmas morning excitement! It was easy to make (and approved by R since it doesn't have any "odd" ingredients like nuts!) so I'll certainly share the recipe if anyone is interested!
We spent the rest of Christmas day playing and enjoying each other's company! Neither of our cars left the driveway. It was just sweet family time!!

Happy Birthday to Jesus & Christmas Eve

2010-01-01T20:15:00.000-06:00

All Christmas festivities were especially fun this year since C really could understand and participate! She knew we were celebrating Jesus' birthday ("Happy birthday cake to Jesus!") so we decided to bake him a cake. She was my willing little helper in the kitchen. She poured in the eggs, oil and water. And it was even more fabulous that Jesus likes the SAME kind of cake I do!! Okay, well I'm sure He would have loved the yellow Duncan Hines cake with whipped chocolate icing and multi-colored sprinkles if it had been available back in His time!

We went out to R's parents' house for Christmas eve and took the cake with us. We had fantastic ham, chips and dips and watched a Christmas classic--"National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation"--together! After we ate dinner we lit candles and sang "Happy Birthday to Jesus" before we tore into the delicious cake! Here's C eating her slice!

SO many of you sent beautiful picture Christmas cards this year, and I want you to know that I enjoyed opening every one! If you didn't get one from us it isn't because you didn't make "the cut"! PROMISE! It is because we didn't send any out. No one wants a picture of big-ole pregnant me on their fridge all year! I promise to send out birth announcements like CRAZY after the boys are born!

I have a scrapbook-type-book that has a page for every year of our marriage so far in it. Each year I put a picture of our Christmas tree and a picture of of our family at Christmas (usually our family Christmas card!) Because we had no family Christmas card this year, we had to take a picture on Christmas Eve so the spot wouldn't be blank for 2009! Here's the best one we came up with...

C is actually smiling (and looking at the camera!!), I don't look too swollen, and R's eyes are open! We're sitting in front of Ryan's mom's pretty Christmas tree! This may be one of our last photos as a family of three!!

Here is the other picture that will go in my Christmas book for this year. We had a fake tree last year but went back to a real one this year. There is nothing like a real tree in my opinion!

Merry Christmas at Gammy & Pops'!

2010-01-01T20:00:00.001-06:00

We had a very Merry Christmas at Gammy & Pops' house the same weekend Aunt Audrey came to town. When we arrived on Friday evening, the men of the house worked really hard to get C's surprise from Santa put together. When I see this picture, I can only ask, "How many Aggies does it take to put together a kiddie kitchen?"

After the mechanical engineer, Aunt Audrey helped finish the job the answer would be 3 Aggies and 1 honorary Aggie (since he paid for my brother and I to be Aggies!) Obviously you can see the large amount of schnauzer help as well.

It was ALL worth it the next morning when C discovered her "chichen"! She L-O-V-E-S it! She puts all of her play food in the washing machine, then moves it to the dishwasher, then to the oven and then to the microwave. She has had the most fun pretending and cooking for us. We brought it back to our house and it is now a fixture in the playroom. She says, "Want to play chichen, mommy?" which means I sit in one of her little chairs and she serves me ALL of the play food she can find!
A stocking stuffer treat that gave lots of smiles was a big box of Raisinettes. How can I tell her no? I mean, they are a fruit, right? We actually found some random Raisinettes in the "chichen" washing machine along with a pair of her shoes and a sippy cup of juice!

This picture was taken later in the morning after we had all gotten dressed. C loves playing with blocks and leggos and building "tall, tall towers" and I included this picture because of her sweet smile. She isn't a fan of looking at the camera and smiling lately, so we'll just take what we can get!
It was a fantastic and full weekend!

Belly Meets Blog!

2009-12-26T19:44:00.004-06:00

The photo below has not been digitally enhanced...OBVIOUSLY! :) I suggest you do not click on the picture to make it larger. It is large enough as is!!

It's been a long December...

2009-12-25T22:00:00.000-06:00

Man alive, it truly has been a LONG December! With no less than 4 Christmas celebrations (so far!), shopping, R taking finals and graduating, weekly doctor's appointments, decorating, traveling (shh, don't tell!), my 30th birthday, getting ready for C's 2nd birthday party, 3 baby showers (and trying to write high-quality thank you notes!), getting organized for the boys, and trying to keep those 2 boys growing strong inside my body, I'm EXHAUSTED! It doesn't help that I've also had some insomnia as of late.

I changed the baby ticker on the side to indicate how many days until my scheduled c-section. Less than 3 weeks. Unreal! I'll be 35 weeks tomorrow and I plan to post an updated belly shot so you can all see the stretch marks that have taken over my tummy. I've been a devoted "Palmer's Cocoa Butter Lotion" user since the beginning, but I guess there's only so much it can do! I guess my string bikini is going away and never coming back out again. Oh well! (HA!) A small price to pay! This evening the boys were especially active, and R put both of his hands on my belly. I got tears in my eyes when they started kicking his hands simultaneously. It was like they knew it was their daddy and they wanted to say hello! People ask me all the time if it is lots different being pregnant with twins as opposed to one. The movement is the biggest difference to me. I can literally feel both boys moving around on different parts of my belly and sometimes simultaneously. I also know which side they each reside on so I can tell who is resting and who is kicking!

Here are just a few pictures from the month's festivities. I still have lots to upload and edit from C's Christmas and the boys' room is really and truly almost ready for unveiling!

Here's the handsome graduate and his very pregnant wife! He managed to complete his Master's while being a devoted husband, daddy and worker. I am so proud of him!

R with his very proud mom and dad.Our little family at my 30th birthday dinner at Macaroni Grill! YUM! I think my mom took this picture and she gets kudos for capturing a smile from C!

Me and the sweet husband. That weekend in particular consisted of one family Christmas celebration (Friday evening), his graduation (Saturday), traveling south, a baby shower, AND my birthday dinner. Needless to say, we do look a little tired!

I love hearing from you guys. Your encouragement means the world to me as I try to remain upbeat these last tough weeks of pregnancy! I'm not complaining, and I hope it never appears that way. Just being real. I am blessed!

Update!!

2009-12-21T20:22:00.004-06:00

Whoa, I know an update is seriously overdue. My two readers are worried! :)

I went to the doctor on Friday at 33 weeks and 6 days. Still have a ton of cervix (They think it is really funny to tell me that I could be a "cervix donor"...I don't think it it that funny!) All of that to say, the boys are still in there as happy as can be. Reid is head down and facing the back and Chase is head up facing the front. The Friday before I had a growth scan and their measurements gave us these weights: Reid, 4 pounds 11 oz. and Chase, 5 pounds 2 oz. This week I got the doctor to officially set a date for my c-section (if I haven't gone in to labor before then!) The date will be January 14th! The boys will have the same birthday as their Aunt Audrey! SO as of today (Monday, December 21, 2009) I've got 23 days to go!! Yahoo! I haven't had any real signs of labor and I never went into labor when C was born, so I'm pretty much guessing the boys will be born on January 14th (at 37 weeks and 6 days!) Holy smokes! I'm going to put a countdown ticker on the blog somewhere.

The reason I haven't had a chance to post since I went to the doctor on Friday is because I got the most AMAZING surprise on Friday evening. R told me that he and my parents had gone in together to buy my birthday present. He also told me that it woulnd't be here for my birthday because of a problem with the shipping. When we left home on Friday to head to Georgetown, he went back in the house and got a large gift bag and put it in the van. He told me I couldn't open it until both my mom and dad were there since they were in on it too. We got to Georgetown and my mom went in to a long story about how MAD she was at my dad. We were supposed to all go and eat dinner together but she told me that my dad had gone to Austin to buy a sander that he'd purchased on Craig's List and that he would be late to dinner. I totally bought the story because it sounded kind of like something my dad would do. I suspected NOTHING. While we were eating our salad, my dad walked into the restaurant. My mom was still acting mad at him (she even told the waitress that he was paying for his own meal!) Still, I suspected nothing. About 3 minutes after my dad came in, I looked up and saw my very best friend, Audrey, walking toward our table!

For my 30th birthday present, my sweet husband and my wonderful parents had flown my best friend across the country for a weekend of fun with me! It was a fantastic surprise! (And, my dad did not buy a sander off Craig's List...he was picking Audrey up at the airport!) We did lots of talking and laughing and some shopping too. My "condition" limits my stamina, but I think I did okay. Audrey requested a trip to Rudy's so we took care of that.

I didn't take any other pictures, but Audrey got one at our dinner on Sunday evening. We got to enjoy pedicures and plenty of bonding time for Aunt Audrey and C. It is so cool how it seems almost like C can sense how much I love Audrey and therefore she loves her too.

Audrey flew out this morning and I basically slept ALL DAY LONG after she left! I got up at 6:30 to help her pack and get on the road. She and my dad left around 7:15 for the airport. I fell back asleep by around 9:00 and didn't wake up again until 11:30. I got up and had lunch with mom and C and went back to sleep from 1:00-3:15. I guess I didn't realize how exhausted I was. I think I'll also sleep good tonight too! I think the boys are sapping me DRY on the energy! Not really a good time of year to be low on energy! Thank goodness for the help my mom is with C! I couldn't do it without her!

I have other exciting things to post about...Ryan's graduation from graduate school, C's Christmas here (and her new kitchen from her Gammy & Pops), and the much anticipated pics of the boys' room...BUT those will have to wait for now!

Disappointment!

2009-12-16T19:46:00.004-06:00

C got a bag of "play food" at a Christmas celebration this past weekend. She LOVES it and loves to prepare food for mommie and daddy. We were playing on the couch this afternoon and left the food scattered there when we went to take a bath this evening. This is what I found when I came out of the bathroom...

I'm sure poor Gretchen was very disappointed when she discovered the food wasn't real! You can't blame a dog for trying, though!

3-0

2009-12-15T20:21:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago on "CBS Sunday Morning," Tom Petty (of all people) said something that sums up exactly how I feel about turning 30. He said,

"If you're not getting older, you're dead."

You'll never hear me complain about turning 30 (or 40 or 50...) because if I'm blessed enough to reach those ages it means I'm still alive and kicking! :)

Today has been a fantastic birthday! I woke up about 6:45 to hear little footsteps coming into our bedroom. C-Bear climbed up in to bed to snuggle with me and watch a video and drink her milk. I got great birthday kisses from C and R before they went off to start the day. I didn't work today so I got to leisurely pick up the house and do laundry. I told several folks that I was resting and nesting today! I did some work in the boys' room and washed their first load of "Dreft" laundry. That stuff smells so good! I had lunch with R and a big glass of sweet tea! I napped this afternoon with the schnauzers and then had a fantastic dinner with C, R, Kenny & Julia at Texas Roadhouse. The day ended when we put C to bed just a few minutes ago and when she was saying her prayers she thanked God for "mommy's happy birthday cake." What a sweetheart!!

I felt so loved by all of the calls, cards, text messages and FB posts I got today. Y'all sure know how to make a girl feel special!

We're still here!

2009-12-08T13:56:00.004-06:00

Howdy friends! I hope that you are all well and getting in the Christmas Spirit! We are rocking and rolling around here. I thought I'd do a brief update and incorporate some recent pictures for fun! I'm having trouble moving the pictures around the way I want, so they will be kind of random!

I went to the doctor this past Friday. He didn't have much to say other than I'm doing "great"! I told him that I was feeling really exhausted and getting out of breath easily and he said, 'Welcome to the third trimester carrying twins!" He wasn't being insensitive, just stating the facts. I was able to get my H1N1 vaccination for which I am very thankful. They checked my cervix via ultrasound and it looked good. Fluid on the boys also looked great. The fluid doesn't surprise me since I'm drinking water like CRAZY! I know I drink close to a gallon a day! I'm carrying the boys' own portable swimming pool at all times! I hadn't been to the doctor in 3 weeks and in those weeks I gained 8 pounds. I don't know what my grand total is so far, but I know it is LESS than I gained when pregnant with C!

This picture was taken on Sunday at 32 weeks + 1 day! Look at that belly!! I go again this coming Friday and will get a growth scan! My bets are on each boy weighing over 4 1/2 pounds! We will see!

Princess C has decided that wearing a shirt is completely over-rated. We've been trying to compromise about what is acceptable in public and at home. She's such a funny girl! She is loving looking at the Christmas ornaments we strategically placed at her eye level! She asks for the Christmas tree lights to be turned on as soon as we get home.
She also had a nagging cough and snot that had been hanging on for about two weeks, so last week I took her to the doctor to find she had an upper-respiratory infection. We've been treating with antibiotics for 5 days now and she's cleared up GREAT!

She got a bath-time barbie for Christmas from an aunt recently and has enjoyed playing with 0her in the bathtub. R taught her that the barbie's name is "Tanya" and he also made "Tanya" into a high-diver in the bathtub. After "Tanya" dives from the upper platform (aka the washcloth bar) we all have to clap our hands and say "Yaaaayyy Tanya!" With R and C around I'm never at a loss for laughs!

With everything we've had going on lately, C's nap and sleep schedule has been a little "off"! I'm pretty strict with that sort of thing, but some flexibility has been necessary, and she is old enough for a little bend in the schedule. Well, she was in the playroom on Sunday morning while I was cleaning up and getting ready. She was watching "Little Einsteins" and when I poked my head in to check on her, this is what I found! I wanted to badly to go cuddle up next to her and nap, but I didn't want to squish her or break the chair! Isn't she angelic? Such a sweet and precious girl! She has my heart!

Some sweet friends gave me and the boys a fun baby shower this past Sunday. We were blessed by all in attendance! Below is me with one of my FAVORITE gifts. The picture is of my grandaddy (Freddie Layne) and his twin brother (Eddie Wayne) dressed in their Sunday best! The picture was taken sometime in the early to mid-1930's. My grandaddy made the frame which makes it even more special. It will be prominently and proudly displayed on the wall in the boys' room! (BTW, we're waiting on one last thing before I take pics of the entire room and post them! I can't wait for you all to see!!)

And our very, VERY exciting news is that R will be graduating with his Master's on Saturday! YES, this Saturday! I'm so proud and excited and just look forward to the opportunities this new degree will afford him! I'll try and take pictures of the conquering graduate in his regalia on Saturday. He asked if he had to wear anything under his gown. I told him that it isn't necessary for undergrad, but I think that they expect more from graduate students! HA!

Update of sorts...

2009-12-02T20:25:00.002-06:00

I've been feeling guilty for not posting an update recently, but it really has been taking every ounce of energy I have to make it through each day. I told R yesterday that my body is currently sustaining life for 3 people right now and I'm REALLY feeling it. I've been blessed to feel so great for most of my pregnancy, and I'm still doing better than I could be. I just have zero stamina, get very uncomfortable very easily and have trouble physically (and emotionally!) managing my busy two year old PLUS meeting all of the demands of the holiday season. (And on that last note, don't be surprised if we don't send out Christmas cards this year! A double birth announcement in early 2010 will have to suffice!)

The boys are still as active as ever! There movements are VERY intentional--like they are stretching or trying to bop one another. They get very active in the evenings! I'm 31 1/2 weeks pregnant and am as large as I was at 39 weeks when C was born. My goal is still to make it to 37 weeks and the doctor has given me no reason to believe that isn't possible. SO that means I've got about 5 1/2 weeks to go. I go to the doctor on Friday. It will have been 3 weeks since I've seen him, so I should have some updated stats on the boys to share afterward. I'm pretty sure I'll start seeing him every week from now on!

Wedding Weekend!!

2009-11-22T20:56:00.004-06:00

Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures myself this weekend. I was too busy being a bridesmaid and the mother of the flower girl! If you'd like to see my brother's beautiful bride (and my new sister-in-law) you can go here.

Here's a quick pic of me and C before the rehearsal on Thursday night. She did not nap (for whatever reason) on Thursday, so she melted down shortly after we arrived at the rehearsal. Thankfully, R's parents came to take her and put her to bed so we could enjoy our evening. The dinner was at Pappasito's! I was a little sad to watch folks drink the margaritas and Dos Equis, so I got wild and crazy and had a Sprite!

Here's the flower girl with the mother and father of the groom (better known as Gammy and Pops!) Doesn't my mom look beautiful? And my dad looks awfully dapper! C was enjoying being silly with them before the wedding!Here's our little family before the ceremony began! See, I promised you a picture of a handsome groomsman, a precious flower girl and a large bridesmaid! My mom made C's PRECIOUS flower girl dress. And the hair bow didn't make it down the aisle. It was pulled out of her hair shortly after the picture was snapped!

Did I mention it was SO COLD at the wedding? A strappy dress wasn't near enough clothing--even for a hormonal and perpetually hot pregnant girl! Luckily, my dad had an extra jacket in his truck. I know it isn't glamorous, but I didn't care! This pic is of me and my sweet grandparents waiting in the food line! Aren't they cute? 60 years of marriage and still smiling! P.S. My grandaddy is a fraternal twin, so I tell him that he is the reason I'm having twins! He LOVES it!
I'll hopefully be able to post some more pictures when the photographer gets them finished! I want you all to see C actually walking down the aisle as the flower girl!

Weekend Update

2009-11-16T11:03:00.004-06:00

My curly-topped girl LOVES animals! She had a blast feeding the ducks and wasn't afraid of them! I was bitten on the finger by an aggressive duck when I was a little girl, and Ryan was bitten on the behind by one when he was a little boy, but our daughter has no fear of them (yet!) We took a pack of old hot dog buns to feed them, and she said, "Feed the ducks cornbread?" We thought that was cute, so we just went with it! :)

"C'mere, ducky-ducky!"

"Hey, duck! How's it going? We could do a movie together! Say 'hello' to your mom for me!"

"My Gammy comes up with the BEST, most fun activities! I love to feed the ducks at the park!"

And in case you didn't get the text or see it on Facebook, I'm 29 weeks pregnant and I went to the doctor for a check up on Friday. Baby A (Reid) is measuring at 3 lb. 2 oz. and Baby B (Chase) is measuring at 3 lb. 1 oz. I do not have gestational diabetes (woo-hoo!) and have only gained a little over 30 pounds. The doctor wants me to make it to 37-38 weeks, so I'll just keep on letting those boys grow! If you'll recall, C weighed 9 lb. 7 oz. when she was born at 39 weeks, so I guess that means I just like to grow big babies! My goal for the boys is 6 lb. each! I'm feeling pretty good and can't complain! I've developed a little bit of PUPP on my stomach that itches like crazy, but I've got some good cream to put on it. Check out that BELLY!

My work friends gave the boys their first baby shower last week. It was super fun to be blessed by their kindness and generosity! We've started stock-piling diapers and wipes! I'm all about the practical things this time around! It is fun, though, because they still managed to throw in some fun stuff for the boys as well! C even got some special "big sister" presents and it makes me so happy to see her relishing in her soon-to-be role!

My baby brother gets married on Friday, so stay tuned for pics of the cutest flower girl EVER, a very handsome groomsman, and the LARGEST bridesmaid you've ever seen!

Furniture Woes

2009-11-07T18:33:00.004-06:00

We've had more than our fair share of furniture woes lately. Things are looking up and stores have done right by their guarantees and their products, so I had to share!

Woe #1: Mattress
We bought a Simmons Beauty Rest Mattress at Denver Mattress (part of Furniture Row) on December 31, 2005. We sprung for a Simmons because of its good reputation and durability. Over the past few months, we've been noticing some major "dips" in the mattress and that those "dips" have caused the mattress to be less comfortable. I pulled out the paperwork that came with the mattress to find that it was guaranteed for 10 years to not "dip" more than 1 1/2 inches. I called to see how we should measure the "dips" and they told me to lay a yardstick across the mattress and measure with a ruler. You can see pictures below!

The mattress had two places with close to 2 inch "dips" and a few other places over 1 1/2 inches. We took pictures and took them with us when we went to Denver Mattress last week. There were NO QUESTIONS asked! The saleswoman pulled up our invoice and showed us our mattress choices. We ended up selecting one that was equal in price to the one we have already. We set up for delivery and went on our way. It was really that easy! We'll be getting our new mattress delivered within the next week or two. Hooray!

Woe #2: No living room furniture

11 weeks ago today, I we ordered a sleeper sofa, a love seat and an ottoman from a furniture store in Austin. When we ordered it all, they told us it would be ready in 6-8 weeks. WELL, this is what our living room has looked like since then...

R usually sits in the black computer desk chair, and I sit in the brown easy chair in the right of the last picture. Too bad if we have any guests over. The dogs lay on their bed (or in C's little easy chair!) and I usually have my feet up in a camp chair or in one of the dining chairs.

It has seriously gotten ridiculous! 11 weeks? Seriously? Yes! I called on Thursday to get an update on the furniture. The very nice lady told me that it was set to be shipped from the manufacturer next week. They don't deliver to our area, so then we'd have to set up a time to go get my dad's truck and trailer, go get it, and bring it home.

I told the lady that I was not pleased, and she was very apologetic and understanding. When I told her that I was 28 weeks pregnant with twins and that I'd been without living room furniture for 11 weeks, she was appalled! I asked her what she could do to make the situation right. She went and talked with the owner/manager and came back with this offer: They will deliver the furniture to our home (which is WAY out of their normal delivery area) AND they will deliver it for FREE! I thought that was a generous offer to keep the customer happy. So we should have furniture within the next two weeks!

Woe #3: Desk chair

I mentioned here that sitting at my desk in my desk chair had become almost unbearable. I packed up my at-home set up and took it to my cubicle. This is where you will find me sitting most work-days. Camp chair with a pillow in the back, laptop on my lap and feet in another chair. I can reach my phone, my water and I have my cell phone in the drink holder pockets! It is a great set up for the time being! I thought you would all enjoy a picture!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-04T09:23:00.004-06:00

Halloween 2009 didn’t go exactly as I had hoped it would. I have a bit of a stubborn (and yet completely precious) almost-two year old on my hands. She must get that from her father. I digress.

She loves picking “flowders” so we decided that she’d be a pretty pink “flowder” for Halloween. Gammy made a precious collar with shimmery petals that C could wear, and we got her a pink t-shirt and green leggings. I knew she wouldn’t be willing to wear anything on her head, so the elaborate costume was out of the question. Also, like me, she doesn’t like to be hot, so a “suit” of any kind wouldn’t have worked either.

I will let the pictures tell most of the story…

R trying to convince her to put on the “flowder” collar so she could go get candy. Eventually she got mad because I was taking her picture! She would wail if we got the petal collar anywhere near her.

Big, pregnant mommie decides to wear the “flowder” petals for our trick-or-treating adventure. About 4 houses down the block, I snuck up behind her and tied the petal collar around her waist. She looked down and squealed with delight, “I have costume! Woo-woo!” She pranced around for the rest of the evening thrilled with her costume. *Heavy sigh!*

We let her enjoy as much "cany" as she wanted, so she had a mini Hershey bar, a sucker, some sweet tarts and some M&Ms. Needless to say, she was sugared-up! She had the best time entertaining her guests (Mimi, Papa, Uncle Mikey, Aunt Teesa, Kaylie, Matthew, and Gammy) and running around like a banshee!
OH it is amazing how much I LOVE my little "flowder"!

Pumpkin Pics

2009-10-27T17:36:00.005-05:00

Favorite Picture #1

Favorite Picture #2

All pictures were taken before C got mad because I wouldn't buy a little pumpkin with a rotten spot on it. She proceeded to throw a HUGE screaming, crying and snot-infused FIT in the middle of the church parking lot! Lovely! So glad I snapped these beauties before all of that nonsense!

And just for LAUGHS, here is my favorite picture from the same pumpkin patch last year...my little schnauzer!

Maybe next year we'll make it through the whole excursion without tears...or maybe not!

Picture it!

2009-10-27T12:51:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I can't take a picture of myself, so you'll just have to imagine it...

I can no longer sit comfortably at my desk and in my desk chair for more than a few minutes at a time. This obviously poses a problem and interferes with my productivity! Recently, I started turning my desk chair around and working with my laptop on my lap while my legs are propped up in another chair. That has worked okay for a while, but there is ZERO support for my back which is most of the problem. I finally gave up and came home to work this afternoon, and I must say I believe I've found a solution.

I'm sitting in one of our fold-out camping chairs (you know, the kind with the drink holders on the arms?) with a pillow on my back and my feet propped up in another chair. My laptop is on my lap and for the moment, there is not any pain or pressure on my body. I can lean back enough in the chair that my back is relaxed, and the pillow is just giving me that extra support. Ahhhh.

I will probably try and take this set-up with me tomorrow to work. The only problem is that we are STILL waiting on our living room furniture to come in and removing one of the camping chairs is going to equal removing half of our current living room furniture. Hmmm. Ryan said I could fold the chair up every morning and take it to work and then fold it up every evening and bring it home. Wouldn't that be a sight?

I'm TRYING so hard to maintain my sense of humor and keep a positive attitude, but my body is just entering a really uncomfortable phase much earlier than it would with a singleton pregnancy. I get frustrated with myself when I can't go and do certain things with C anymore because my body just says, "NO!" The only time I'm truly comfortable is when I'm laying down in bed...And oddly enough, that isn't too much fun to C!

I'll make it through this. I do not want to be a complainer or a whiner, but I'm told that folks can tell by the look on my face that I am struggling!

Going to the doctor on Friday for another check-up! Woo-hoo! We're taking C this time, so I'll be very interested to see what she thinks about her Baby Brothers!!

I carried a watermelon!

2009-10-26T08:43:00.003-05:00

In "Dirty Dancing," Baby is disgusted with herself when all she can think of to say is, "I carried a watermelon!" That was all I could think of when I saw these pictures. I look like I'm carrying a watermelon! I promise, I'm not carrying a watermelon! Just two active little boys! Pics taken at 25 weeks and 6 days.

Big Girl Bed Update

2009-10-21T13:47:00.003-05:00

Exhibit A: Big girl in her big girl bed after mommie and daddy FINALLY got it all set up! She was GIDDY with excitement when it all came together! She went and got her “friends” (Sammy, Lovey & Giraffe) and put them in the bed along with her “boppies” (pacifiers)! She kept saying, “Mommie, I sleep in big girl bed! Good night!”

Exhibit B: Big girl actually asleep in her big girl bed after wallering and tossing all of the pillows about! She’s slept in the bed the past two nights and has done really, really well! This picture was taken on the second night!

Corrie’s Tips for Moving a Big Girl to a Big Girl Bed…

1. TALK IT UP! Talk about it for a week before the switch is to happen. Point out “big girl beds” any time you see them on television or in books. Make it sound SO cool! The day of the switch, talk about helping take down the “baby bed” and putting up the “big girl bed.” Ask her, “Where are you going to sleep tonight?” to which she will reply, “My big girl bed!”

2. Let the Big Girl actually help put the “big girl bed” up. We gave C an Allan wrench, a screwdriver and a tire gauge (?) and she had the best time “helping” us work. We praised her like crazy and she was so interested in watching every step.

3. Get the Big Girl some pretty new sheets! We got some at Kohl’s with pink flowers on them. I made a big deal about all the pretty flowers in her new bed! When the sheets are covered up, she asks to see the pretty flowers!

4. GET A BEDRAIL! The one we got is from Target. It was affordable (around $35, I think) and it has two small pockets on the inside where C has her “boppies” stashed. She is so jazzed about the “boppies” being so handy! She keeps saying, “Boppies go in there!”

5. Do your normal night time routine and when you are saying prayers thank God for the “big girl bed” and then put the Big Girl to bed like normal. Turn on the monitor and wait! The first night Ryan had to go in there once and remind her to close her eyes and go night-night. Last night, she didn’t make a peep!

We’re very relieved that things have gone so well. She did have one incident yesterday afternoon when she asked to play in her bed. I put her in the bed and left the room. A few minutes later I heard a thud and then some serious crying. She jumped out of the bed, fell out of the bed or slipped out of the bed. She’s got a red pop-knot on her head, but I think she learned a valuable lesson…Call mommie or daddy when you are ready to get out of bed! Later yesterday evening, I heard her say, “Mommy help you get out!” The girl picks things up SO quickly!

Flu Shot Finale!

2009-10-20T13:15:00.001-05:00

I promise this will be my very last post about the flu shot issue. The way things ended is just too good not to share, though!

I posted yesterday about finally giving up on my quest to find a preservative-free seasonal flu vaccination for myself. A friend’s mom had offered to save a vaccine for me and administer it, but it was going to be the regular kind and not preservative-free. After talking about it with Ryan, praying about it and weighing the pros and cons, we decided it would be wisest for me to just get the regular shot.

I felt really peaceful about the decision as I waited for my 3:00 appointment to get the shot. I knew that God was bigger than any shot and was much bigger than any issue that getting the shot might cause.

Well, when I walked into the office a little after 3:00, I was greeted with the news that the single-dose syringe that had been saved back for me WAS in fact the preservative-free kind! I couldn’t believe my ears! After I got the shot and walked back to my car, I stopped for a few minutes to think about what had just happened…

God had asked me to trust HIM. Not science, not “my gut”, not my own misgivings, and not statistics. When I stepped out on that faith in Him alone, He provided in ways beyond all of my expectations! He didn’t want the “victory” to be mine in this situation. He didn’t want me to be given credit for “finding” the preservative-free vaccine. He wanted me to trust Him…vaccine with preservative or vaccine without preservative. When I finally let go and was willing to do that, He got to shine and do His thing!

2009-10-19T12:41:00.003-05:00

There isn’t a lot of coherence to the items I want to post, so I’m opting for a numbered list. Humor me!

1. As of today (Monday) I am 25 weeks and 2 days pregnant. If you look at the ticker on the right, you’ll see that we cross-over into double digits this week. Woot-woot! At my appointment on Friday, both boys were weighing in at 1 lb. 11 oz. each. I am very thankful to report that they both have lots of fluid and that my cervix is still measuring at 5 cm. My doctor is pleased with how things are going with the pregnancy and we’re continuing to thank God for good reports! I am taking Nexium for pregnancy induced reflux and nausea, but I can’t complain about that! No big deal! One boy is breech, but I can’t remember which one. Here are a couple of pictures!

This is Reid (Twin A). Thankfully, Chase moved his booty out of Reid’s face so the sonographer could snap this photo of his cute little nose! And I know he looks an awful lot like an alien, but don’t you think he kind of looks a little like me? Maybe an alien-version of me?

This is Chase (Twin B). He’s a fan of sucking his thumb, and I think it is just adorable. He seems to be kind of smirking like he’s thinking, “I’ve got my booty in my brother’s face and there’s nothing he can do about it!”

2. My quest to find a preservative-free flu vaccination for myself has regrettably failed. We have decided that the risks involved with me actually getting the flu are far greater than the shot itself actually causing a long-term problem. All I can say is that I did my very best and exhausted every avenue and there just isn’t one to be found. It is a complete blessing that I’m even able to get one at all! (Thanks Lauren and your sweet mom!) I’m thankful that C’s vaccine was preservative-free. I will continue to be vigilant about the vaccines my children get being preservative-free!

3. My daughter, “Eva”, (that’s what she calls herself when we tell her she’s a diva!) will be moving into her big-girl bed either tonight or tomorrow night. I found a cool comforter on clearance at Bed Bath & Beyond and bought her some cute sheets on Overstock.com. We bought a bed-rail at Target and Ryan’s parents delivered the bed last week. The sheets and mattress pad are in the dryer and the comforter should be here this afternoon. We’ve been talking up the “big girl bed” in hopes that the transition will be smooth! I’ll keep you posted!

4. Additionally, “Eva” enjoyed riding her daddy’s bucking bronco leg this weekend. She laughed and laughed and laughed. Her daddy is simply hilarious! And yes, she wore her 12th Man Jersey EVEN though we got SMEARED! She’s no 2%’er!

5. AND here’s the audience participation portion of this post. I want some opinions because I’m really clueless. Some sweet friends are going to give me and the boys a baby shower in early December. So sweet. SO kind! I am just struggling with who to invite. Some people have so many friends that they worry about leaving someone out. I am the opposite. I don’t want to invite someone and have them think, “Why the heck did she invite me? We’re not BFFs or anything!” I mean, I don’t have a huge social circle here. I have many acquaintances and several folks I don’t talk to often but who I would help in a heartbeat if they needed me. I have great work-friends, and they are giving me a shower on their own. Should I invite people who have invited me to their showers in the past? Many of my close friends live far away, but should I invite them anyway even though I know they won’t be able to attend? I’d love any advice!

I hope you are all enjoying some of this glorious fall weather! I soaked up some sunshine this weekend! The boys got some much needed Vitamin D! Keep it real, friends!

WATCH this video!!

2009-10-15T06:59:00.002-05:00

I promise you'll want to watch this video! (Teaser...Clara and I are famous TV stars!)

2009-10-11T20:22:00.002-05:00

I must say that my mom completely outdid herself this weekend! Not only did she get the boys' room completely painted, she brought with her their completed bedding! I thought I'd share a few pictures of her AMAZING work!

After she painted, R and I got the cribs put together. Only one bed has a mattress currently because the other crib mattress is still in use. R also got C's new chest of drawers assembled so we moved the changing/dressing table from her room into the boys' room. C's Mimi and Papa (R's parents) are giving C a trundle day bed to use in her "big girl" room. I'm a little nervous about the move to a "big girl" bed, but I guess it is part of life! (Any tips?) The toy box in the boys' room was also moved from C's room to make space for the "possibility" that she'll get a play kitchen for Christmas this year! :)

The room isn't complete yet (of course!) R just ordered a Texas A&M basketball court floor rug for in there. I'm pretty sure he wishes we could have one in the living room, but I have to put my foot down somewhere! I've ordered wall letters to spell out each boy's name and those will go above each crib. R also has a cool Texas flag framed in barn wood that will hang up in there too. The only other accessory I'd LOVE to have in there is a framed picture of my Grandaddy and his twin brother, Wayne, when they were little boys. My Aunt is on the hunt for that! So I'll post more pictures when the room is "done" but it has come a LONG way in one weekend!

And Miss Priss. How could I do a post without including some of her most recent antics? She loves to "help" when I'm getting ready in the morning, but when Gammy is here C prefers to "help" her. This morning, after mom put on her makeup, C wanted the brush to play with. Below you will see the result! I'm thinking we've got the next Sephora makeup model on our hands! Check out those blues too!

And I must be feeling REALLY secure with myself to post this next picture, but I think it is hill-ar-i-ous! C loves to get my undies out of the clean laundry basket and wear them around her neck like necklaces. At one point today, she had on 3 pairs and was running around the house saying, "Woo-woo!" Mom captured this picture of her peeking through one pair making her face framed in a perfect heart!

So, needless to say, nothing is dull around here. I'm feeling good about how the house and the projects are coming together. I'm also feeling pretty good physically and I'm SO thankful for that! I'm growing like crazy! I plan to post a new belly picture soon. None of my medium maternity clothes are fitting anymore. I've resorted to sleeping in R's XL t-shirts and THANKFULLY, my mom bought me a new pair of maternity jeans and 4 new fall tops this weekend. The boys are very active--my favorite thing about my condition! :) I go to the doctor again on Friday and will report more then!

Be blessed, friends!

Help, please!

2009-10-08T08:04:00.003-05:00

**UPDATE**
Thanks for your advice on this one, guys! Luckily, I was able to find a pediatric, preservative-free vaccine for C at the Health Department. She will be going tomorrow for that. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find one for myself. My OB and my family doctor are both out. The Health Department has no adult vaccines on hand, and every "quick clinic" (HEB, etc.) I've called is out. SO C will be protected and the rest of us will wait!

Okay, folks. I'm getting kind of desperate and need some advice...

My OB wants me to get a flu shot. No problem. R and I have decided that it will also be wise to get C a flu shot since her brothers will have limited immunity when they are born. No problem.

WELL there is a problem. I refuse to give C any vaccines that contain thimerosol basically because I'm not completely convinced that there is absolutely no autism link. And, why take the chance?

I've done my research and found that FluZone makes a single-dose pre-filled syringe for infants and toddlers 6 months-3 years old. That is really the only one I'm open to use for C. Our doctor's office only carries FluZone in the multi-dose vials and those vials contain a full dose of thimerosol. I've talked to our nurse and she's done her best to call pharmacies to see if they could fill a prescription for the single-does pre-filled syringe of FluZone, but she's had no luck.

Does ANYONE have ANY ideas? Do you think I should call other doctor's offices in town and see if they have the vaccine we want? Do you think they'd give it to someone who isn't an established patient?

There are several other options for me...Mostly pre-filled syringes and single dose vials. You can get more information here. And BTW, if I wasn't pregnant I wouldn't care about getting a dose of thimerosol myself, but since I am pregnant and responsible for what I put in my body and its potential to harm the boys, I'm being overly-cautious!

I'm desperate and looking for advice or help. Please share any ideas that you have! Thanks!

2009-10-06T10:47:00.003-05:00

I can’t convey how much I appreciate the kind and encouraging comments, texts, emails and even one real-deal card I got after posting last week! I was in need of some affirmation, and you guys certainly came through. I’m thankful for the prayers that accompanied the words. Things are going to work out. We’re all going to survive and THRIVE! Thanks for walking with me on this journey!!

We went to the doctor on Friday morning and got to see the boys again! Chase weighs 1 pound and 5 ounces, and Reid weighs 1 pound and 4 ounces. That is only a 4% discrepancy and totally normal. We won’t worry unless the discrepancy goes to 20-25%. Both boys are still boys and are moving around LOTS! I start going to the doctor every two weeks now, and as of today I am 23 weeks and 3 days! We were thrilled and thankful for a good report!

(I have some pictures, but none are scanned and ready to post! I'll add them soon!)

I had to break down this weekend and go to Wal-Mart to buy bigger (granny?) underwear and a bigger bra. Sorry if that is TMI for anyone. Things are just growing and I put it off long enough. I hate spending money on stuff like that, but things were beginning to get unbearably uncomfortable!

I have noticed myself doing a lot more grunting when I’m moving around, bending over or trying to get up from being on the floor with C. I guess it makes me feel better to do it, but it is totally involuntary! I am large and getting larger, but it will be totally worth it when these baby boys are born big! I’m praying for 6 pounds each and that I’ll be able to carry until at least 37 weeks!

Princess C has been nothing less than a delight lately. Not even once have I had to threaten to sell her on Craig’s List (okay, you must know I’m kidding!) She must be in a growth spurt because her eating has reached a new high level! I wish there was some way to quantify the things she’s learning every day…It really just blows my mind! She loves “Wonder Pets”, apple slices, M&Ms, playing with sidewalk chalk, looking for bald eagles (?), and swinging outside. I took this picture of her this morning enjoying her apple slices and a little “Wonder Pets” before it was time to head to Nana’s house. I've been putting a little "gel" in her hair to keep her curls tight all day!

My mom is coming this weekend to paint the boys’ room. We’ve got the cribs and hope to get them set up as well. I’ll post pictures when it starts coming together!

2009-09-28T14:26:00.002-05:00

I have hesitated about posting this, but always pride myself on being “real”, so here goes. I am not complaining about my current situation only processing. There is a difference.

Isaiah 55:8-11
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

About 8-9 months ago, R and I talked about the possibility of adding another member to our family. We talked about C and the new sibling being about 2 years apart. We talked about C “graduating” from Nana’s just in time for a new sibling to take her spot. We talked about the challenges of having two young children, but we also talked about the joys. In my mind, it was something we could handle. Childcare wouldn’t be a problem. Money would be tight (isn’t it always?) but we’d make it work. My 80% work schedule would allow me to spend every other Friday with one of our children. One Friday would be special time with C and the next would be special time with the new sibling. We’d be able to keep driving my Accord and R could keep driving his truck. We’d be snug in our house, but we’d fit just fine. We’d be able to start a second 403(b) college savings account for the new sibling and continue contributing to C’s monthly. I have two hands, so in my mind I would be able to manage having two children. I had it ALL figured out.

And friends, I am here to admit to you all that I don’t have ANYTHING figured out at this point. With the news that God has decided to bless our family with twins, my “plans” have been completely obliterated. Nana doesn’t have two infant spots available for the twins, so that puts us back at square one for finding childcare. Do we look for a nanny? How does one go about looking for a nanny? We knew money would be tight when we added one child. I have no concept of how we’re going to make things work when we add two children. With both of us working, money will be tight. If one of us was to stop working, we wouldn’t be able to buy diapers or pay for insurance. The college savings accounts are going to have to be put on hold. That’s for sure. You all know that R’s truck has gone bye-bye and we are now minivan owners. Our once small-seeming house seems even smaller, and yet, we don’t have the option of moving at this point. The plan to spend every other Friday with one sibling isn’t really going to work now. And the whole idea about me having two hands for two kids is laughable now that there will be a total of three children and I still only have two hands.

How will I be able to give the boys all the attention they need while giving my precious C all the attention she needs while still maintaining my marriage and giving R the consideration and attention he needs and deserves? How will I maintain the friendships that have become so important to me when I’m spending so much time in survival mode? Will my friends think I’ve fallen off the face of the earth? And then we get to the practical concerns…How will I keep all of us fed and clothed? How will I juggle it all? HOW?

Everyone says, “Oh don’t worry! Everything will work out!” Someone said to me the other day, “Oh, Corrie, where’s your faith?” I think that was supposed to make me feel better. She didn’t realize that many mornings it takes all the faith I can muster to even get up and face the day. But then I have to remember what faith is. It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things not seen. That is from Hebrews 11:1. I memorized that verse in college and it has applied so well in so many circumstances.

I have no doubt that God knows and can fully handle all of these questions and concerns. He just doesn’t seem to want to let me in on how exactly He’s planning on doing that. I suppose He wants to receive the praise when everything DOES in fact work out and none of us are going hungry or going without diapers. He wants me to know that He is the one who will orchestrate the childcare conundrum. He wants me to know and to trust that He will use me to give each of my children what they need and that He will sustain my marriage and friendship with R in the midst of chaos. He wants me to see that He’s painting this picture, and I’m merely a color on the canvas. He’s not going to reveal the grand picture until He’s good and ready. He doesn’t want me taking the credit for ANY of the masterpiece I’m certain He’s painting.

Pics of the Boys!

2009-09-21T19:47:00.006-05:00

After some work by my live-in computer technician (he plugged in a cord!) we got the scanner working, so I'm happy to introduce y'all to the boys! I'm not posting any of their "boy part" pictures. Y'all will just have to trust me that all parts are clear and accounted for! The first two pics are of Reid. He's Twin A because he's closest to my cervix. We went ahead and named Twin A Reid since that was the first name we had picked out.

Mr. Chase (Twin B) is next. I love how he appears to be sucking his thumb in the profile pic!

And for those of you who thought I looked "tiny" or "not large enough to be carrying twins" in the 20 week picture I posted, I'll just tell you that the outfit, plus the angle, plus the time of day made it only APPEAR to be the case. Here I am this evening at 21 weeks and 2 days. I'm getting larger by the minute! And these boys are active!!

We're working hard to stay healthy around here. C is keeping us on our toes! Most of you saw this pic on Facebook this weekend, but just in case you missed it, here's the cutest little Aggie fan around!
Thanks, as always, for the encouragement you offer. You can't possibly know how much it means to me! Be blessed, my friends!

(Over) Halfway There!

2009-09-14T09:41:00.002-05:00

Well, folks Saturday marked 20 weeks pregnant for me! Everything I’ve read says average for twins is 36 weeks, but I’m shooting for AT LEAST 37. I want some big, strapping boys! Even so, it is doubtful that I’ll make it to 40 weeks which is why the title of this post is “(Over) Halfway There!” This picture was taken this morning at 20 weeks and 2 days.After about 12 weeks I got a reprieve from having to get up in the night to go to the bathroom. Well, that is over for now. Also, my extreme hunger has returned. These boys are hungry!!

Mom, C and I went shopping this weekend for the bedding fabric for the boys’ room. I’m pleased with what we got. I knew I wanted some red, navy and khaki PLUS I wanted some corduroy. Mom promises she’s up for the task of making bumpers, dust ruffles for two cribs! Here are some swatches of the fabrics we ended up with.

We also ordered the cribs, and they should arrive sometime in late September. They are convertible only to a toddler bed, so they are a little smaller than most. That is what we were going for since they’ll both be in the same room! They are chocolate wood finish.

And Sweet C! This girl has my heart wrapped around her little finger. Here is a picture of her from this weekend throwing money in the “mountain” (fountain) at the outlet mall. She cracked me up with something she said, so I must share. We’ve been talking to her lots about all the things God made. God made the rain, God made the flowers, God made the animals, etc. On Saturday morning, she smelled kind of ripe, so I said, “Clara, who made a poopy?” She quickly replied, “Gawd!”

And here she is doing one of her FAVORITE activities…chalking! Can you see the excitement on her face? And the major curly bed-head? She is her daddy’s child!

First Haircut!

2009-09-09T21:39:00.003-05:00

Miss Priss got her first hair cut today! Miss Jennifer didn't cut much. She just did some snipping to shape it up and even out the back. It made her curls even curlier which was ideal! You can see from the picture (this was before any cutting happened!) that she was bribed with a sucker ("cany") while Jennifer snipped and then treated to lunch at her favorite place (Chic-Fil-A or "Chick-play") for being such a good girl!

Oh, and notice her new shoes? She had been limping any time we put her grey New Balance shoes on. We thought she was just being dramatic, but come to find out they were an entire size too small! Bad us! She's now wearing a size 8! Whoa!

Oh and one other thing. I got the first official kick from the boys today. It wasn't a flutter but a real-deal, true KICK! It happened twice while we were eating at Chic-Fil-A and has happened several times this evening. I think that is my favorite thing about being pregnant!

2009-09-08T15:42:00.003-05:00

**UPDATE**: Did NOT go well AT ALL! After letting her cry hysterically for over an hour, Ryan dug the bag of pacis out of the trashcan. I just can't handle seeing her so upset over something so relatively insignificant. Odds are she's going to have braces someday anyway. Odds also are that she'll outgrow her paci before she goes to Kindergarten. I'm trying to give myself (and her) a little slack!

Pray for us, friends. Operation "No More Paci" comences tonight at 8:00 p.m. We're going cold turkey. The whole bag is going in the trash and the monitor is being turned off. It has to happen. R and I are both feeling strong enough to do this. She's just gotten obsessively attached to it, and it must end.

(So I was TOTALLY serious about the "pray for us" part!)

Walker & Texas Ranger

2009-09-06T21:07:00.003-05:00

Although in Ryan's guest-post he called the boys "Hans" and "Franz", he's decided he wants to change their names to "Walker" and "Texas Ranger" as kind of a tribute to one of his heroes, Ricky Bobby! Oh, the man certainly keeps me laughing!!

Our scanner is having some issues right now, so I can't post any actual pictures of the boys. Boo! Reid is Baby A which means he's closest to my cervix and will more than likely be the first one born. He's the first one we saw during the sonogram. The tech flashed over his boy-parts, and I saw them, but I think she wanted another look before she announced it to the room. You should have seen the high-fives going between my parents and Ryan. It was at that point that Ryan got up from his seat and he didn't sit down again for the rest of the sonogram. The tech went over to Baby B next. I had just told her that we already had a 20 month old baby girl when she said, "Well, it looks like you've got two boys this time!" And with those words we learned we had Chase instead of Chandler in there!

Once she finished up and did all the measurements and made sure both boys looked good and checked out, I was more relieved about that than I was about determining the gender. I was really, really just excited for Ryan to have sons. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to have two boys! C can still be my Princess and rule the roost! The boys can torment and protect her depending on the situation! He he! The best news is that both boys weigh exactly 9 oz. so one isn't "taking" more than his fair share right now. The doctor said there was 0% discrepancy in their size. My cervix is also really long (?) which I am told is another good thing. My BP and weight are good. I'm up to 10 pounds total and feeling pretty darn good!

Here's the scene in the room once the sonogram wrapped up...Ryan and I are each holding a pack of blue Orbit gum. He had two pink packs in his pocket. We were so glad that my mom and dad got to be there for the exciting news!

[As soon as the scanner starts working again, I'll post some pics of the boys!]

And in other news, we are officially minivan owners as of this afternoon. We spend ALL DAY yesterday driving around D/FW dealing with some slimy used car salesmen (gag!!) but ultimately decided on going with a van we test drove in Temple earlier in the week. We're so pleased! It is a 2007 Toyota Sienna. The previous owner took excellent care of it and we plan on keeping that up! C LOVES being so high up! She's constantly searching for horses and cows out the window now! We're going to have a DVD player installed within the next couple of weeks. Ryan feels like it is a must for a family with 3 kids. I just say, whatever!

Here I am before I drove it off the lot this afternoon. They had it all nice and detailed for us, and I enjoyed driving it this evening!

So that's it, folks. We're happy to be all under the same roof tonight. C has been with my Aunt and Grandparents in D/FW all week. We missed her like crazy, and we're pretty sure she missed us too. One of her new(er) cute things is this...When we say, "Who made the flowers?" she says, "Gawd!" Her little twang is about the sweetest thing ever! We've also been working on saying "baby brudders"!

Hope you all have a restful Labor Day! Hugs to each of you!!

Drumroll.......

2009-09-03T15:56:00.004-05:00

Corrie and her mother are out shopping so she wanted me to update her blog.

And the verdict is........

Two boys!!

Baby A = Reid Michael "Hans"
Baby B = Chase Logan "Franz"

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Babies are looking healthy and weigh the EXACT same. They are definitely fraternal.

C and C are now out numbered!

Love,
The proud daddy

Take a guess...

2009-09-01T13:13:00.002-05:00

Just because I think it would be interesting to see what y'all think AND because I truly have NO IDEA (no "mother's intuition" or anything like that) please leave a comment between now and Thursday at noon and make your best guess!

Are we having Boy/Boy twins? Girl/Girl twins? or Boy/Girl twins?

Let me know if you have any reason behind your guess or if you are just making a random guess!

OH and we do have "official" names for each combination...
Boy/Boy
Reid Michael & Chase Logan

Girl/Girl
Chandler Louise & Riley Marie

Boy/Girl
Reid Michael & Chandler Louise

Compare & Contrast

2009-09-01T09:21:00.002-05:00

C on her first trip to the zoo in November of 2008. She was just a baby!!

C at the same spot in the zoo yesterday! Look at those long arms and long legs!

18 Weeks!

2009-08-29T16:35:00.002-05:00

18 weeks today! Woo-hoo! We go to the doc on Thursday for our big sonogram! Double woo-hoo!

H-U-N-G-R-Y!

2009-08-26T14:02:00.001-05:00

Okay, folks the hunger has hit me again out of nowhere! It is currently 2:00 and here's what I've eaten so far today...

Toasted English muffin
Cantaloupe & Watermelon

2 pickle spears
Cantaloupe & Watermelon

1/2 a full-size Snickers bar

1/2 a ham and Swiss sandwich on wheat
1 pickle spear
1 cup country potato soup

other 1/2 of full-size Snickers bar

2 slices of Colby-Jack cheese

AND 32 oz. of water (I'm starting on my second 32 oz. now!)

Note the fruits and veggie (pickles count as a veggie, right?) so I'm not trying to eat crap all the time. I'm just soooo hungry. My snack bag in the fridge is dwindling. All I have left is my apple. I hope I can make it through the rest of the work day without hitting up the vending machine (again)!

Grow babies, grow!

"Craptastic"

2009-08-24T12:57:00.003-05:00

“Craptastic” is one of the many words I’ve learned from my hubby over the past few years. It is a combination of “crappy” and “fantastic”. Things the past week have been completely “craptastic” so I thought that would be a perfect title for this post!

Fantastic: Last week (can’t even remember the day!) R sold his truck. We were able to get *almost* what we owed on it! Now we’re on a mad hunt for a minivan!

Fantastic: Last week (again, can’t even remember the day!) we sold our couch and love seat.

Crappy: We are now using one of C’s bean bag chairs as our living room furniture! We’ve rolled the computer chair in the living room as well so we can actually both sit in there at one time!

Fantastic: Last Wednesday, I did my last back-to-school staff development for the year! Talk about worn completely out! I don’t have another presentation until the end of September!!

Fantastic: The playroom conversion is complete!! C LOVES it in there and regularly asks to go in there. She would still prefer I come with her and “play” but I think she enjoys having some free-for-all space! We’re really pleased with how well it turned out! Thank goodness for IKEA!!

Fatastic: My “nephew” Leyton Michael was born last Thursday evening in Grapevine. My mom came through so we could ride down together. We made it to the hospital about 10 minutes before he was born. He’s a precious and handsome little guy with LONG eyelashes! Mom and baby are doing fine!

Crappy: The 1.5-2 hour trip home from Grapevine on Thursday night took us 3.5-4 hours because of traffic. Luckily, C wasn’t with us (which would have made the unpleasant trip home almost unbearable!) We finally made it to my house at about 1:15. Mom got up at 5:30 to drive home and go to work on Friday. What a champ!

Fantastic: To keep us awake, R texted us funny jokes beginning at about midnight. We laughed so hard! Unfortunately for y’all, none of the jokes are appropriate for this very public forum! But they sure were funny in the middle of the night!

Fantastic: I had my checkup on Friday morning. BP was good and I’ve only gained 5 pounds total. That worried me a little bit since I’m 17 weeks pregnant with twins, but Dr. M wasn’t concerned. The portable sonogram revealed that the babies have strong heartbeats and that they are fraternal twins—two placentas and two sacks. We go on September 3rd at 1:30 for our “big sonogram”! Start praying right now that the babes cooperate and show us their goods!

Fantastic: I was able to go furniture shopping ALONE on Saturday morning, and I purchased a sleeper-sofa, a love seat, and an ottoman for the living room. This is our first “adult” living room furniture since we’ve been married!

(Not a great picture, but the couch color is on the right and is called "Copper". The accent pillow color is on the left!)

Crappy: It will take 6-8 weeks for the new furniture to come in, so we’ll be using the bean bag and computer chairs in the living room a while longer!

Crappy: C is showing more and more that she is testing the waters and asserting her independence. R handles all of this very well, but I take all of her misbehavior personally. While changing her diaper this morning, she hit her daddy. He acted immediately and firmly and it was very obvious she knew she had done wrong. I’m glad she didn’t hit me because I know it would have hurt my feelings and I wouldn’t have been able to respond in the way he did. I’m such a perfectionist, and I want so badly to do a good job of raising and disciplining C. I know, I know. There is no perfect parent. I just want to do my best, because she deserves no less! (And as evidenced by the picture below, she is still constantly cracking us up! Notice that she’s decided night GOWNS are much better than pajamas! She insists on wearing her “soft gown” as often as possible!)

Fantastic: C and I were at my parents’ house this weekend, so I got some extra time for sleeping, resting and napping. My body needed it badly! We ate at some of my favorite places over the course of the weekend (Monument Café, Rudy’s BBQ, Pappasito’s) and of course, mom’s home cooking!

Fantastic: We are all well and blessed. We’ll be happy to see more fall-like weather in the coming months. Wishful thinking? Maybe!

The 10 Commandments

2009-08-18T19:29:00.002-05:00

This is especially for any of my teacher friends who are starting back to school this week with dreaded staff development. I wrote these "10 Commandments for Staff Development Attendees" this afternoon and wanted to share them with you. Feel free to share them with any colleagues.

1. Thou shalt not take job, life, or general frustrations out on presenter(s).

2. Thou shalt not hold the presenter(s) in contempt for presenting what he/she was asked to present.

3. Thou shall realize that it was not the presenters choice or idea to schedule the session the same day as "Meet the Teacher" night.

4. If thou already knowest all things about all things, thou should still remain polite and professional.

5. If thou must text message or email during the session, thou shall attempt to be discreet.

6. If thou doesn't want to be in the session, thou should LEAVE.

7. If thou has ever attempted to teach a class of 200+ students, thou should feel free to offer suggestions or constructive criticism. If not, thou shall keep thy mouth SHUT.

8. If thou receives a phone call during the session that thou must answer, thou should leave the room before beginning a conversation.

9. Thou shalt not act in any way that would not be allowable in thou's own classroom.

10. Thou shall be appreciative (and know that things COULD be a whole lot worse!)

Weekend in Review

2009-08-10T08:54:00.003-05:00

Good morning! We had a fun and full weekend, and I thought I'd share a few pics!

On Saturday morning, we got up and drove to Fossil Rim which is only about an hour away from where we live. It is a drive-through safari type thing full of all kinds of animals. I would recommend it to any of you locals who have kids that love animals! Each vehicle can purchase one bag of animal feed to use over the course of the safari. C and I were more interested in just looking at and talking to the animals, while our driver (R) was more interested in looking up and identifying each animal in the brochure!

Because we were driving no more than 15 mph through the whole tour, C got to get out of her car seat and come up front to look for animals. She loved jumping back and forth between me and R.

I had never been so close to a flock of zebras! There was a warning sign that said something about the zebras biting, so I tried to toss the food away from the truck. WELL, I was looking ahead as R watched a zebra sneak up on me from behind and stick his head into the window. SCARED the "you-know-what" out of me. R thought it was hilarious! After we made it past the zebras we got to feed giraffes from our hands! Even C did it! We were so proud of her (and surprised!) that she wasn't freaked out. It was super-cool!

[Then my camera battery died!]

Halfway through the drive, they had a rest area/gift shop/petting zoo place. There were several goats in the petting zoo, and of course, C loved them! Every time we see a goat, Ryan busts into a Mark Wahlberg SNL skit about goats. "Hey goat! I like your beard. We could do a movie together. Say hi to your mom for me!" He thinks it is so funny.

We found a local BBQ joint and ate a delicious lunch there followed by homemade chocolate pie for dessert! C napped on the way home while I rested and R drove. It was a super-fun family day!

Sunday, my mom and dad drove up to help R build our new storage shed in the backyard. The work began around 7:30 and didn't end until almost 5:00! While they worked, I played with C and tried to keep her occupied. Mom cooked and brought a delicious roast with all of the side dishes for lunch! Yummy-tummy! After lunch, here's what I found when I went to check on the sleeping beauty...

We spent a large part of the later afternoon playing in C's newly filled sandbox. The girl with the short attention span can play in the sandbox for LONG stretches of time. It is awesome! She didn't even fight me about wearing her hat or putting on "lotion" (sunscreen)!

And as we played, the schnauzers wrestled, played and tried to dig in the sand. Eventually Grace Ellen got sick of her sisters, so she just climbed herself right up the playground ladder! We laughed so hard! Funny thing was, C wouldn't get up there while Gracie was up there. We wonder how often she gets up there during the day when we're not there! When she was ready to come down, she just came down the slide. What a silly schnauzer!

And thus begins one of the busiest weeks of the year for me at work! I needed a good weekend full of fun and family to launch me into this week! Y'all take care!

Progress Report!

2009-08-04T13:00:00.003-05:00

One of the CUTEST smiles captured in a while! Such a big girl! She even says, "Mommy, I big girl!"

Hello, friends! I wanted to give a progress report on “things” going on around here!

-First of all, I am SO THANKFUL to report that I’m feeling great! It was almost like when I crossed into the 2nd trimester I turned a corner. No more nausea and a ton more energy. Thank you, Lord, for that!

-I worked in the soon-to-be playroom all day last Friday and most of Saturday. I got tons of stuff boxed up for the attic and for Goodwill. Ryan has been swamped with class (finals, etc.) so the attic stuff hasn’t made it up there yet, but my friend Julia delivered all of the Goodwill stuff for me! Hooray!

-My mom is coming to my rescue to paint the playroom for me on Thursday. I can’t do any more until that is done, and obviously, I can’t do it myself. She offered to do anything she could to help me, and I am so thankful! We just picked out a color at lunch called Coastal Mist. It is a pale blue color that we think will look clean and crisp. I’ll post pictures when I can!

-Remember the storage shed that was part of our "plan" for making our current house work? Well, we went and looked at them today at lunch. I think we've decided on an 8x10 plastic shed. It doesn't have a concrete foundation or anything. BUT we just found out that we do have to get a PERMIT from this crazy city in which we live! $32 plus a drawing of our backyard showing property lines, where we want to put the shed, and distances from all property lines. We've decided we're going to do the drawing in crayon and also include the schnauzers in the drawing to make it more true-to-life. Sigh!

-Oh this is an odd (but cool!) story! A couple (about our age) walked from their house to our garage sale a few weekends ago. They had a 20-month old little boy with them in a stroller. We talked to them for a little while and just chit-chatted. They left. A few hours later the mom and the son came and knocked on our door. They said that they had just moved here from Oklahoma and hadn’t met anyone. They said we seemed nice (HA! Little do they know…) and they wanted to give us their contact information in case we ever wanted to get together. We were impressed by their boldness and willingness to go out on a limb! Well, they are coming over for fajitas tonight. I’m excited to meet them since we don’t know very many folks in our neighborhood either. Like R said, it could be really fun or REALLY awkward. I guess we’ll see!

-C spent last weekend with her Gammy and Pops! They had so much fun visiting friends in Marshal and going to the Caldwell Zoo! My baby girl sure has an expressive little face, huh? Not sure who she gets that from...

C's newest smocked dress made by her Gammy. I think it is one of my favorites EVER! She's doing her "cheeseburger" smile!

Feeding the birdies with Pop! She was so excited!

"Look, Gammy!" Here's one of those expressions I was talking about!

"Goat, what in the world are you doing?" I just love this picture for some reason. It captures a thoughtful, contemplative pose. It looks like she's trying to decide whether to run or go scratch the goat's back for him!

For the sake of comparrison...

2009-08-02T13:15:00.003-05:00

Same shirt.

On the top: 14 weeks + 4 days pregnant with C. Sticking my belly out so I'll look like I'm showing.

On the bottom: 14 weeks + 1 day pregnant with twins. Not sticking my belly out any farther than it sticks out naturally.

12 weeks + 5 days check-up!

2009-07-28T19:56:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday, I went for my 12 weeks + 5 days OB appointment. It was thankfully a very low-key appointment.

Blood pressure: Excellent

Weight: Gained 3 pounds in 4 weeks

Blood work: Good (no anemia!)

Baby count: STILL TWO!

The darn internet had made me fearful of the possibility of "vanishing twin syndrome" where two babies appear on an initial ultrasound and then only one appears on all ultrasounds thereafter. I was so thankful to learn that they will do a portable (lower-quality) ultrasound on every visit because they will be unable to distinguish each twins' heartbeat with the Doppler. I was relieved to see two babies (who looked more like babies this time than beans!) and two flickering heartbeats appear on the screen. I told Dr. Moore before the ultrasound that I felt like I could officially get excited if he still saw two babies in there on the ultrasound that day. He was happy to point out the two babies with a smile. The picture below is very low quality, but you can see both babies. We *think* the one on the left is head up and the one on the right is head down. Or maybe they are facing one another? We did notice that one of them was bobbing his/her head to what seemed like the beat of some cool music!

Questions he answered for me...

1. Do I need to take any additional supplements? No, not at this time. He may give me an iron supplement later.

2. How can I avoid getting gestational diabetes? There is no avoiding it. Your placenta determines if you get it or not. I was relieved when he told me to just "be me" and not worry too much about it. I had gotten nervous based on things people had told me!

3. When will we be able to determine the sex of the babies? I will have another quickie portable ultrasound when I go at 16 weeks. I won't have the "big" ultrasound until 20 weeks, and it will be at that one that we will hopefully determine what we've got in there! After 20 weeks I'll go to the doctor every two weeks, and after 30 weeks I'll go every week. I told him he'd get sick of seeing me!

In other news, we had a successful garage sale on Saturday UNTIL the Code Enforcement Officer came by to check and see if we had a permit. (No, I'm NOT kidding!) I'm glad R answered the door because I would have come unglued on the guy! Does he not have anything better to do? Seriously. Luckily he only charged us the actual permit fee of $10 instead of the ticket fee of $100. Sigh!

The Great Meltdown of 2009

2009-07-21T14:18:00.003-05:00

Okay, so it happened. What I first defined as a breakdown was later deemed a meltdown by the professional opinion of none other than my dad!

Up until last Thursday I hadn’t shed a tear of any kind after learning that our family was going to be growing larger than we expected. On Thursday evening, our sweet realtor came over and we filled out ALL the paperwork to get our house listed and on the market. R and I had worked super hard to get everything picture-ready and the house looked fabulous!

After she left and I started to get ready for bed, I began to feel the tears creeping in. I tried to ignore them, but alas, they didn’t go away! And once they started, it took a while for them to stop. They weren’t tears of sadness. They were more tears of anxiety and stress and just a complete feeling of being overwhelmed…Everything hit me all at once.

R tried his best to console me, but I really just needed a good cry. Things looked better Friday morning when I headed to pick up C at Gammy-Camp! R said he didn’t do a lot of sleeping on Thursday night because he was worried about me. In his state of unrest he came up with a new plan. After sharing his plan with me, we’ve decided to move forward with it. Here is the outline…

1. Our house was taken off the market.
2. We’re turning the former guest room into the twins’ room.
3. We’re turning the former computer room into a play room with a couch that folds out into a sleeper sofa. (This means that my living room will no longer be the unofficial play room! Yay!)
4. We’re having a large garage sale this weekend to get rid of superfluous items and furniture. The proceeds will go to the play room fund!
5. We’re having the back porch screened in and adding a dog door. This will be where the schnauzers sleep!
6. We’re buying a shed to have in the backyard that will house our lawn and garden goods so that both vehicles will fit in the garage.

So, all those plans make for much less stress for me. I’m actually very excited now about decorating the twins’ room and setting up the play room! Excitement is a much better feeling than anxiety and worry!

I began my 2nd trimester on Saturday (woo-hoo!) and will be going to the doctor on Thursday. I’ve got a list of questions waiting to go. He got off the hook easy last time since I was too stunned to have any questions!

Thanks, as always, for your encouragement through this journey! And here are the obligatory pictures of CLS taken on Saturday at my mom and dad’s house!

"Hello donkey! Hee-haaaawww!"

Up close and personal with 6 goats, 1 donkey and 1 llama--and not scared one bit!

Spelling her name...

2009-07-18T20:01:00.002-05:00

Here's one of the MANY things you'll learn after spending a week at Gammy-Camp! I could hardly believe it myself! (You may have to turn the volume up a little bit!)

11 weeks, 1 day

2009-07-12T20:37:00.002-05:00

Hello, friends. I had R take the above picture just to document my first official maternity wear of this pregnancy THIS morning before church. It isn't that I necessarily need it yet, it is just that my regular clothes are so uncomfortable that they seem to compound the nausea. You can see the baby pooch pretty clearly though. Or as R said, I've just been drinking a lot of beer when he's not looking.

Several of you have asked for an update, so here goes...

-My emotional state has evened out--Thank the Lord! I guess my body is learning how to deal with the hormones. My moods aren't as "all over the place" as they had been previously, and I feel like I've been easier to live with the past few days.

-I am still dealing with bouts of nausea. If my clothes are too tight around my middle or I get really hot or I don't eat enough or I eat too much or I ride in the car for too long...etc. then I start to feel really sick. It doesn't really go away unless I sleep it off. That isn't always easy to do, but we're managing.

-Our house will be going on the market tomorrow. R and my dad worked like crazy on Saturday to do tasks around the house and get it ready to go. The shrubs and flowerbeds have never looked so pretty. I am so thankful that my dad was able to help R since I'm pretty useless in that department right now! We are not looking for another house until ours sells. That is R's rule and I'm trying my best to follow it!

-Sweet C is spending the week with my parents. We call it "Gammy Camp"! They are having a blast. This is going to give me and R time in the evenings to get the house clean and looking its very BEST! And we know she isn't missing us! Her newest cute thing that she asks for is "chocolate milk". We've finally figured out that m&ms are "chocolate milk" to her! So sweet!

-Other than that, we've just been trucking along. I'll be in my second trimester one week from today (yippee!) and I'm praying that I'll get a little energy back as well as for the nausea to go far, far away. I go to the doctor again the week after next, so I'll certainly post an update then.

Everyone have a GREAT week!!

Beach Pics!

2009-07-08T10:51:00.004-05:00

On vacation in Port A a few weeks ago, we had family beach pictures made. I'm going to post a few of my favorites! All pictures were taken by Amber of A. Leigh Photography!

We have NAMES! (sort of...)

2009-07-06T12:20:00.002-05:00

Okay, so aside from all of the HUGE-life things we've had to consider since we got the news, we've also gotten to have a blast talking about names for two babies! I'm not the type to keep the names a secret until they are born, nor am I the type who will wait and "be surprised" by whether we've got boy/boy, boy/girl, or girl/girl.

My initials are CLS. C's initials are the same as mine. R's initials are RMS. It was my plan and goal to keep that up while continuing to incorporate special/family names as much as possible. These are the names we've pretty much set in stone.

If we have boy/girl...
Reid Michael: Reid because R loves Nolan Ryan, and I wouldn't go for the name Nolan, so his son is named Reid. Michael is R's brother's name. RMS.
Chandler Louise: Chandler because we both LOVE the name. Louise is my paternal grandmother's name. CLS.

If we have girl/girl...
In addition to Chandler Louise
Riley Marie: Riley is my maternal great-grandmother's maiden name AND my paternal grandfather's middle name. Marie is my maternal grandmother's middle name, my cousin's middle name, and BOTH of Ryan's grandmothers' middle name. RMS.

And if we have boy/boy...
In addition to Reid Michael
We aren't sure about this one. Hmmm.

Fun, fun, fun to think about them with names. It is continuing to get more and more real!

Rubber to the road...

2009-07-03T20:49:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow I will be 10 weeks pregnant. As of yesterday, we have known about our impending "bundles" for exactly one week. What seems like a lifetime of thought has gone into the past week. As excited as we are and as much as we know what huge blessings are involved, we've both had our share of fear, stress, and even worry. There are some very practical concerns that come up when you "planned" to add an additional family member, and with one swipe of a sonogram you learn you'll be adding two at once. I've never been one to pretend things were roses when they were not. That is why I'm processing through some of my fears, stresses and worries on this blog.

1. I drive a Honda Accord. R drives a Dodge Ram pick-up. Both would easily accommodate another child. Neither will work for adding two more. We've begun the process of looking for a minivan. Thankfully, R has taken on this task because I don't have much patience for working with car dealers. There are very few late model minivans for sale. Which of our cars should we sell? How will it work to have one car that can accommodate the entire family and one car that will not? Is it silly to buy new? We think we've decided to sell the truck simply because it is the vehicle we do not own outright. We don't want to have 2 car payments. Should we try to sell it ourselves? How do you sell a car? What is involved?

2. When we purchased our home almost 5 years ago, we knew it was a great starter-house. It is just under 1500 square feet. We over-paid for it back then (hind-sight is 20x20), but have made improvements and kept it up really well. It would have been snug adding another child, but that was our plan. The thought of adding two more children to the small space makes my nausea return with a vengeance. We live in a very desirable school district and in a nice neighborhood. Should we try and sell our house? If so, should we try to do it ourselves (and increase our profit significantly) or let a Realtor handle the details (and take a huge chunk of the profit)? And of course, if we do sell it, where will we go? I don't need (or want) a house in the swanky subdivisions of our town. I'd be thrilled with an older home with more space and less claustrophobia. We desire to be good stewards of our money and would never want to move "just for the heck of it." We also desire to have space for our growing family. How do we know what we should do?

3. It has become a full-time job to keep myself fed. I'm working hard to keep my nausea at bay by eating regularly, all the while trying to keep my fears about gestational diabetes at bay. It is so hard when you know you have to eat, but you have concerns about every bite that goes into your mouth. Here's what I've eaten today...

2 scrambled eggs + 1 bowl Grape Nuts cereal + 3 strawberries (breakfast)
green grapes
2 slices Colby Jack cheese
a few walnuts
BBQ brisket sandwich + green beans (lunch)
Fuji apple
Walnut thumbprint cookie
Cheeseburger + sliced tomato salad + dill pickle (dinner)
6 cheese bagel bites
(And I'll probably have another bowl of cereal before bed because I'm already starting to feel hungry again!)

I'm trying to make healthy choices, but I'm eating CONSTANTLY. It is exhausting to think about planning my meals, snacks and drink choices ON TOP OF trying to keep my family well-fed and happy.

I'm not writing all of this so people will worry about me (mom). I just want to be open with my feelings and honest with myself. I covet your prayers as we try to make sound decisions for our growing family.

This whole process is a test of my faith. A test like I've never experienced before. Sure, I've had faith, but it is easy to have faith when you feel like you are calling the shots and know what is coming next. Before now, my faith has been like tires on a new car that have never touched the road. Looks nice, smells nice, deep tread. Now, I'm taking those tires on a cross-country journey and seeing what they can do. Rubber to the road.

Here's a picture of my "mimming" princess! This girl loves water SO much! We took her to the splash park near my parents house this week. I love that girl!

Anniversary Get-Away

2009-06-28T20:15:00.003-05:00

Everything has such funny timing. We had a little anniversary weekend get-away planned for the past weekend. I think we booked it back in March. Who knew then that we'd need some time away to process and just enjoy each other? R will probably tell you, though, that I wasn't the most enjoyable person to be around. My emotions and hormones are ALL over the place. Happy, sad, frustrated, angry... I'm also really tired. I'm really hoping this will all even out in the coming weeks. Yikes!

We went to our fave, The Melting Pot, and when they asked if we were celebrating anything, we told them both of our celebrations. When the waiter brought out dessert, he had created this. Very clever!

We stayed at the Gaylord Texan. They had a special deal where you could buy one night and get the second night free the month of your anniversary. They upgraded us to a deluxe suite on the top floor. I don't think I've ever stayed in a hotel room that had a dining room and living room IN ADDITION to the bedroom and bathroom. Sheesh.

Luckily, there was a 24-hour cafe that we had to hit up for two late-night runs!

It was a really enjoyable weekend. We did some swimming, relaxing and plenty of eating. We had a FUN conversation about names for babies, but nothing is set in stone yet. We're going with R.M. initials for boy names and C.L. initials for girl names. Fun, fun to think about!

My office is closed this week, so C and I are going to enjoy some time in Georgetown! We hope you all have a great week!!

Shock & Awe

2009-06-26T09:38:00.002-05:00

Good morning, friends. I thought I'd write and process through a little more of the events that transpired yesterday!

I presented yesterday morning and finished before noon. I met my mom in Temple for lunch at Olive Garden. After we ate, we came back to my house and napped. I left the house at around 2:50 for my 3:30 appointment since I knew I'd have a stack of paperwork to fill out. Mom left the house the same time I did to go and pick up C at Nana's.

I got to Dr. Moore's office and filled out all of my paperwork. They made copies of my insurance card and then much to my surprise called me back before my appointment time of 3:30. I was worried because R wasn't there, but I knew he was on his way. I did weight and BP check and the customary tinkle in a cup thing. Dr. Moore came by to say hello. He looked at my chart and said, "Well, look what we have here! You guys know how this is happening, right?" We laughed and he told me he'd be back.

His nurse came in next and reviewed my chart, pertinent dates, family medical history, etc. R had arrived by this time. When the nurse asked if we had twins in our family, I said, "Yes, my maternal grandfather is a twin and my paternal grandfather had twin siblings." I said that only because it is the truth. I really and truly had not considered that we might be having twins. She wrote it down and left the room so I could get ready for my pap and U/S.

I walked into the undressing area, and Ryan followed. I laughed SO hard when he started un-buckling his belt. I thought he was just trying to be funny and undress because I was having to. Actually, he was just re-tucking in his shirt. [May not be funny to anyone else, but it was to me!]

I got up on the bed and we waited for Dr. Moore to come in.

He came in and reviewed everything with us that the nurse had taken down. When he asked us if we had any questions, we both confidently said, "No. It is so much easier this time because we know what to expect. The second time around is so much easier." He agreed and then got down to business.

He did my pap while the nurse prepped the U/S machine. Ryan was standing right next to my head and we were just chatting about this and that.

When the U/S started, the screen was facing Dr. Moore and his nurse. I was a little distracted because I was feeling like I had to tinkle again, and every time he moved the "wand" around the "need" became worse. Dr. Moore was silent and very intent on the screen. I heard him print a picture. The nurse said, "Sometimes it takes a few minutes to get a good picture..." I still had no idea.

I heard Dr. Moore click and print another picture. That's when the nurse said, "Yep, you were right on the money--8 weeks and 5 days--for the first baby."

Ha ha ha! So funny! R and I sheepishly laughed at our jokester nurse.

I said, "Yeah, right! It isn't funny to kid about stuff like that!"

"I'm actually not kidding!"

And then Dr. Moore, "No, she's not kidding. There are two babies in there!"

I got really hot then. All R and I could do was laugh. I felt like the room was spinning. I still half-way believed that they were in cahoots with one another to freak us out because we had acted so confident about being ready for pregnancy #2. Ha ha ha.

"Really? Are you being serious?"

"Yes, we're both very serious. Congratulations, you are having twins!"

Print another picture.

That's when he turned the screen around to face us. He showed us the two separate sacks and the two flickering heartbeats. We both had goofy grins on our faces because we were still processing.

You can only imagine the thoughts that started whirling around in my head immediately. I vaguely remember Dr. Moore turning off the machine and BRIEFLY telling me that he would see me more often and that I would be at greater risk for high blood pressure and bed rest...And then he and the nurse were gone. R and I were left sitting in the room together.

I think we both kept saying "Oh my gosh!" R was very focused on making sure I was okay before I got up off the table. I don't remember getting dressed, but I know I did.

After a quick call to my mom, I walked down the hall for my blood work. My head was still spinning. R was holding the two print-out pictures of our babies.

They had told me when I made this appointment that we'd have to pay $300 at our first appointment. I was prepared to do that. As we began to walk to the check-out desk, I asked Ryan if two babies meant we'd have to pay $600 instead. We really had no idea.

We ended up only having to pay $300. The check-out lady asked me what I was going to do to celebrate, and I told her I didn't know. She said she'd celebrate for me, so I asked her to have a margarita for me!

When R and I got out in to the lobby we hugged and double-checked to be sure the other was okay. When we both had our assurances, he got in his truck to go share the news at his work, and I got in my car to start making phone calls as I headed home.

Whirlwind day. SO many thoughts, emotions, feelings. So much joy! We both believe this to be a great blessing. God decided this...we had no hand in it. We are humbled, scared, excited, nervous, and every emotion in between.

The due date is January 30th, but it is doubtful that I will go full term. The goal will be to carry them as long as possible, so if you need something to pray that would be a good place to start. We're also praying for a safe and healthy pregnancy and happy, healthy babies.

We sincerely appreciate all the love and support of our friends and family. This is going to be a new adventure for us as our family grows larger than we ever thought it would.

Stay tuned for more...

Do you see what I see?

2009-06-25T18:04:00.002-05:00

Our new family equation...

2 (me & R)+ 3 (Gx3) + C + TWINS = Our new family!

Vacation in Pictures

2009-06-23T10:36:00.005-05:00

We just returned from a fun-filled family vacation to Port Aransas. We were all focused on having FUN, so we didn't get a ton of great pictures. I guess that's the price you pay! Here are a few of my favorites...

And here are a couple just for the sake of comparison. The first is me and C LAST summer in Port A. The second one is us THIS summer in Port A. Whoa!

Family Update!

2009-06-14T20:14:00.004-05:00

I know, I know. I'm way overdue for an update. It's just tough being newly pregnant (and nauseated!) during the busiest season at work. I've been running myself ragged and going to bed before 8:30 most nights. I've gotten to rest some this weekend, and this coming week looks MUCH less daunting than the past two. Thank goodness! Here's an update with pictures!

-The best word to describe C these days is BUSY! This girl is either asleep or she's busy having fun. She loves to sing her ABC's like this...

ABCD...FG...IJK...OP....WYBeeeeeee (Z) She does this over and over and over.

-Elmo is still the coolest little red guy at our house. R and I feel like we've successfully entertained C if we can make it through an evening (or a Saturday morning) without her asking for, "Elmo TV?" Yeah, it is pretty rare. She was quite a fan of playing the Rock Band drums over at her cousin's house the other night! Like I said, ALWAYS busy!

-We took a trip to New Braunfels last Saturday to celebrate R's grandma's 86th birthday! Her birthday is also her wedding anniversary, so we celebrated 68 years of marriage for her and Ryan's grandpa too. 68 years is a LONG time! We managed to snag one decent family picture. (C is upset because we are so mean and forced her to leave the game room! Anyone want to call CPS?)

-Speaking of anniversaries, we celebrated 5 years on Friday the 12th. Woo-hoo! R bought steaks and baked potatoes, then later we enjoyed some delicious brownies. We even busted out the China! We had a fun and relaxing family evening.

-We've been spending quite a lot of time outside lately. C is very interested in helping to water the flowers, playing in the dog's water bowl, throwing, kicking and chasing the ball, swinging, sliding, and sidewalk-chalking. How can we resist the always cute "Ou-side?" or "'Mon mommie."?

-R started back to school this week. Ugh for him, and ugh for me. He is only taking one course this summer, but it is a 12-week course. I sincerely look forward to December when he GRADUATES!

-We're at a loss on one of C's behaviors lately. She'll seem fine and then she'll just start screaming and crying (real tears) like something hurts her. She's inconsolable for anywhere to 5-15 minutes. We've been thinking teeth or gas, because we can think of no other explanation. We put her to bed with a dose of Motrin tonight, so in case it is the teeth she'll at least be able to sleep comfortably. Any thoughts on this puzzling behavior? Maybe this is the teacher in me, but I'm thinking I may start keeping a log of the circumstances surrounding these episodes. Time of day, length, contributing factors, etc. At least I'll feel like I'm doing something constructive to figure out what the deal is! Here's the little cutie this weekend on the front porch and earlier this week sporting her very first pony-tail!

-And my mom (C's Gammy) is the sewing-woman-extraordinaire! Check out this fabulous new diaper bag she made for me! It is cute to look at PLUS roomy and not bulky. I love it!! Thanks, Gammy! Not sure how I missed the crafty and creative genes!!

-And then there's me. I go from being really hungry to being nauseated within minutes. I know I've been irritable, and I'm blaming it on a combination of hormones, stress, and knocking my Zoloft dose in half. I know it will all regulate out, though. Babycenter.com says I'm 7 weeks (9 weeks since LMP), so that is what I'll go with until I get something more precise from Dr. Moore next week. We go on Thursday, June 25th.

Be blessed this week, friends!

The Epitome of AWESOMENESS!

2009-06-10T09:33:00.001-05:00

I hooped and hollered (and probably freaked my child out) when this came on Sesame Street yesterday! I LOVE this song, and I love Feist!

2009-06-01T21:25:00.004-05:00

Sorry to “spring” the news on some of you who would have preferred to be told in person or via personal email. It has all happened really quickly, and R and I decided that there was no reason for us to wait any longer to share our news. I have not been to the doctor yet, but I’ve taken a HPT each of the past three weeks and gotten a positive each time. I go to the doctor on June 25th. If something is going to “happen” it will “happen” whether we’ve told people or not. We figure we’ll be better off the more people we have praying for us and Baby R. (Yes, his/her name will be an R name.) I haven’t made a grand announcement at work—I just don’t want to make a big deal about it. Estimated due date is the end of January, so I’m about 5-6 weeks along right now. C and Baby R will be around 25 months apart! We’re very excited and look forward to this new adventure. I’ve felt okay—just tired and hungry—and a little cranky according to R! It is probably true, but I’m secure with that.

2009-05-30T18:28:00.002-05:00

R says that C gets her brains from him and her dance moves from me. See what you think!!

Yummy Tummy!

2009-05-29T20:32:00.002-05:00

I got to try out a new recipe today, and it was good enough to share! It is from Real Simple magazine, and I only made a few modifications.

Spaghetti with Quick Meat Sauce
12 ounces spaghetti (I use whole wheat)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 lb. ground beef
Kosher salt and pepper
1-28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped (we didn't have fresh, so I used some dried)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and garlic, and cook stirring occasionally, until soft, 8 to 10 minutes.

Increase heat to medium-high. Add the beef, 3/4 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper, and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley.

Serve the pasta with the sauce and sprinkle with the Parmesan.

It was easy to make, and I like that it had the carrots, onion and garlic in it! It was well-received by two toddlers and two hungry mommies!

Need quick and easy bread sticks to go with? Take out the leftover hot dog buns from last weekend (you know you never use them all!) and slice them length-wise. Spray with spray butter or drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic salt or Salad Supreme. Brown under the broiler!

Sorry, I don't have any photographic evidence of the meal, but I promise it was DELICIOUS!!

Memorial Day Weekend 2009

2009-05-25T20:25:00.003-05:00

Howdy, friends!

After spending M-Th in Austin for work last week, I was looking forward to some fun, family time over the long Memorial Day weekend!

Friday was C and Mommie day! We colored, went to HEB, colored some more, one of us ate a purple crayon while the other one was fixing lunch, watched a little Elmo, got in a good nap, and did some finger-painting! C was NOT a fan of finger-painting because it meant her hands would be dirty! We ate dinner on Friday night with Ryan's brother and his family at Texas Roadhouse! YUM!

C has started waking up around 5:45 in the morning, and Saturday morning was no different. I turned down the monitor really low (so I couldn't hear her conversation with her lovey, but could hear her if she started screaming!) and managed to get an extra hour before I went in and got her. My mom came north to spend some time with us, and my Aunt Tye and Gran Gran came south for the day. We had such a fun time! C was happy and enjoyed all of the attention! Here are a few pictures.

"Hi Tye" brought a bubble blower, and it was obviously a hit! The "Elmo Jammies" were the prize I brought home for C! To say she loves them is quite an understatement. I think I outdid myself on those!

Here is C channeling her inner Neal Sperry. She decided to test out the soil by rubbing it in her hair! For a girl who doesn't like to get her hands dirty, she didn't mind a scalp full of dirt! We had ring-around-the-tub after bath on Saturday night!!

Saturday night, R cooked some delicious fajitas and we shared them with friends and family. Dessert was ooey-gooey goodness! Have you ever made s'mores under the broiler in the oven? Oh my goodness. There was a display of s'more making material at HEB on Friday, and it sucked me in! Those advertisers did a good job. Man alive, they were good!

On Sunday, R and I went to a going-away lunch for a couple in our Sunday school class while Gam stayed home and played with C. I think they spent quite a lot of time out in the backyard! I don't think I've mentioned that C recently got a backyard playground. She L-O-V-E-S it! Basically, it is her 2nd birthday present from me and R, but she got it in time to enjoy it this spring, summer and fall. Here are a couple of pics of her enjoying the fun.

This is her "yide". So much fun!

Here we are on the "wing". There is a toddler bucket "wing" too, but she likes to "wing" with mommie sometimes.

We had some good family time today--just the three of us! We did a little shopping and a whole lot of playing and reading. I made quesadillas for dinner with the leftover fajita meat, and C gobbled up every bite of hers and then mooched some off of mine. She decided to forgo her veggies tonight and just stick with quesadilla goodness! We managed to get her to eat some grapes and strawberry, luckily!

And I will end with a video that cracks us up. This was taken this evening after dinner. C has an egg that plays the "Chicken Dance" music. She got it at Easter, and every time she plays it, one (or five) of us will do the chicken dance for her. Well, she's learned it and flaps her little wings and does her little hands and waddle...SO CUTE! Once the music ends, you'll hear her say, "gain?" which means, "play it again, daddy!" You'll see...

Have a fantastic week!

Advice Solicited & Appreciated

2009-05-13T08:11:00.002-05:00

Okay, readers. I’m looking for some advice. I don’t care if I know you or not! I’m just hoping for some insight into a budding problem. This is, after all, my first child and she didn't come with a manual!

Little C is 16 ½ months old, precious, smart, and has a tendency to lay out on the floor when she doesn’t get what she wants. She drops to her knees and falls prostrate like she’s praying.

When this first began, we just ignored it. We would walk away from her, let her finish, and then continue on with life. We’ve tried picking her up and holding her upright until she will stand again, and then distracting her with something else. Lately, we’ve been taking her to her bed when she’s having a temper fit, but we’ve since decided that is more like a reward to her. In her bed she’s got 4 or 5 pacifiers and her Lovie. When she calms down and stops crying, one of us will go and get her. We did that last night and as soon as we got her out, she broke into another fit! We were at a loss on what to do next!

I know this is part of growing up, but I also know that we need to assert ourselves as “boss.” We’ve thought about creating a time out chair (or spot or mat…) to just be a place where we can put her when she has a fit. Is this a silly idea?

Here is the question…How have you nipped the temper fit issue?

*Disclaimer* We LOVE Little C like crazy, and we want to do what is best for her. I know most of you know that, but I had to put it in here just in case!

M.I.A.

2009-04-22T20:36:00.005-05:00

I have this theory that when people go long periods of time without posting anything substantive on their blogs it is because they are pregnant.

REST ASSURED, friends, that is not the reason behind my lack of substantive posts lately!

I just thought I'd check-in and give everyone a quick family update since posts have been sparse!

-Little Miss C is growing and talking our ears off. Tonight in the bathtub, she learned to say the word "shampoo" and she thought it was hilarious! Every time she said it she just giggled! She's also started saying "it hurts" to tell us where something hurts! We're thrilled that we may not have to play the guessing game on that much longer! Woo-hoo! She had her 15-month check up last Friday (even though she is almost 16 months!). I don't remember the exact pounds and inches, but she's in the 93rd %ile for height, the 76th %ile for weight, and the 60th %ile for head circumference. We are completely smitten with our little sweetheart!

This pic was taken before church on Sunday morning! I knew I'd get in trouble for doing a post and not including at least ONE picture of C!

-R is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on finishing grad school. YAY! He had a 30 page paper due last Friday, and it just about pushed both of us over the edge. He wrote, and I edited. After he pressed the submit button, our weekend got exponentially better! He's taking one class this summer and two classes in the fall...and then he will be DONE! He continues to keep me laughing!

-Gx3 are enjoying the pretty weather and all that is budding in the backyard. Gretchen gets a kick out of chasing the birds (bless her heart!)! We've opened up a new corner of the backyard that used to be fenced off, and ever since then there has been some serious vermin hunting! Someone killed a grass snake and left it on the porch for me last week. I almost peed on myself before I realized it no longer had a head.

-And then me. Life is good. I begin and end MOST days with a smile, so that is a good thing. That doesn't mean that everything is always rosy! On the contrary! I just believe that the Lord has given me a peaceful attitude, and for that I am SO thankful! As far as work goes, I'm in charge of (leading?) two GRANDE state initiatives that roll out in May and June, so that is adding some stress. I want to do a good job, but I am not used to being "in charge" of directing others. I'm learning as I go. I'm still very much enjoying my 80% schedule. One extra day per week with my best girl has made a HUGE difference!

SO that is the update from our little world! Not much else to report! BTW, just because I'm not posting doesn't mean I'm not checking in with all of your blogs. Your updates come to my phone, so I get them wherever I am!

2009-04-14T11:22:00.000-05:00

Flor-i-da!

2009-04-08T12:36:00.002-05:00

Howdy! Our posse just returned from a whirlwind trip to Florida! We left on Friday around 11:00 and rolled back into the driveway about 6:45 last night. Just in case you are wondering, we did NOT drive. I loathe long car trips--especially long car trips with a 15-month old! Thanks to our tax refund, we were able to fly out of DFW instead! Woo-hoo!

R's brother and his family live in South Carolina and we don't get to see them nearly as often as we'd like. R's parents drove and the rest of us met them there. We had a lovely condo on the beach on Okaloosa Island. It is between Ft. Walton Beach and Destin. The weather was cool AND C was sick with an ear infection, so we only got to do the beach and pool one afternoon. Also, thanks to C's doctor, nurse, a few phone calls, and a Walgreens, we got her on antibiotics on Monday!

This baby girl seriously loves the water. She very much enjoyed throwing sand and running into the waves! She wasn't scared at all! (Isn't her new swimsuit the cutest? Gap Kids Outlet! And she's so long, we had to get her a 2T!)

BTW, I know my pink hat isn't the cutest thing ever, BUT I am trying to set a good example for my daughter. With her fair skin and Ryan's history of skin cancer, it is NEVER too early! And on top of that, it kept my afro-hair under control!

The grandparents (R's mom and dad) kept the kiddos for us on Sunday night and we all went to "Howl at the Moon" piano bar! After an hour of music (and smoke) and only one drink, these hard-partiers were in bed by 10:00! It was nice to spend time together!

C even got some super-c0ol sunshades! She didn't keep them on for very long, but I think they are cute anyway! This picture was taken on our patio. We spent a lot of time "ou-side" (outside) because that is where C wanted to be. The patio shielded us from the wind, so it was a nice compromise. We did have a couple of "pool parties" in the HUGE bathtub off our room, though!!!

Everyone else is still there, and it was back to work for us today. We can't wait until our next get-together! C can't wait until her next trip to the beach!!

My sweet girl!

2009-03-26T11:03:00.004-05:00

C is capturing our hearts more than EVER with her blossoming little personality. I wanted to write a few things down on here so I don’t forget how precious they are!

-Elmo is the coolest! She has a little Elmo doll that she calls, “Elmo-kay”. We’ve determined that she’s heard us and Nana say things like, “Let’s go find Elmo, okay?” or “We have to clean up before we watch Elmo, okay?” So his name has changed to “Elmo-kay”. We LOVE IT!

-At dinner, we hold hands and say the blessing. She loves holding our hands and then saying “AMEN” at the end. During dinner sometimes, she reaches for my hand (or R’s hand), bows her head and says “AMEN” again.

-This girl seriously loves fruit! She eats blueberries, strawberries and grapes like they are going out of style! She still likes to eat apple (or “appy” as she calls it) and mango. She’s a great eater! Last night she gobbled green beans faster than we could get them on her plate. She is also a huge fan of “i-keam” (ice cream) and ketchup!

-When we start to get her ready for bed, she’s started saying, “Night-night.”
-She is fantastic at making animal noises! She does pig, duck, moo-tow (cow), sheep, horse, monkey, kitty cat, doggie, and my favorite, DONKEY. She says “heeeee-haaaawwww”!

-Outside is absolutely her favorite place to be. She still loves her “side” (slide) and picking flowers. I think she would sit in a swing and let you push her for-ever. The other evening she fell asleep in the swing in our backyard! I guess she just got really relaxed!

-3 of her 4 one-year molars have come in, so that brings the grand teeth total to 11 so far.

-When we get home (or when they walk into the room) she says, “Hi Gabby! Hi Ollie!” [Side note: Gracie is Grace Ellen, so for short we call her Ollie!] She hasn’t quite mastered saying “Getchen” yet!

-We just got a season pass to the local zoo and she LOVES it! I have a feeling that we’ll be going on a regular basis! We were there last Friday and the birds and “pish” (fish) were her favorites.

-We read her a story out of a toddler Bible before bed every night. She knows the routine because she says “bibe-y?” The other night we read the story of the Prodigal Son and one of the pictures shows him after he had lost all of his money and was then taking care of pigs. Ever since that night C has insisted that we read that story again. She starts snorting when we open up the “bibe-y” and doesn’t stop until we’ve read that one and seen the pigs.

-In addition to the ones already mentioned words used regularly…Mommy, Daddy, baby, “Gam” (Gram), Mimi, Papa, Nana, Pop, “Kay-Ray” (Katie Ray), bye-bye, happy-day, no, "shes" (yes), more, tan-tou (thank you), OH BOY!, nose, mouth, eyes, ears, hair and BOO!

She turns 15 months tomorrow! A celebratory trip to the zoo may be in order!!

Pictures!

2009-03-16T16:52:00.002-05:00

Howdy! What a beautiful afternoon here deep in the heart of Texas! I was THRILLED to get the final pictures (all 130+ of them!) that Carrie took of C while we were in North Carolina a few weeks ago visiting Audrey and Sam!

They are really, really LOVELY, and I wanted to share my favorites with you! Click here to go to a Shutterfly album of my favorites! Let me know what you think and which pics you like the best! I'm going to have a hard time narrowing it down!

I love my sassy, blue-eyed, baby girl!

Videos

2009-03-16T11:04:00.007-05:00

Part of my mission this morning was to figure out how to get the videos off of my video camera (that I got for Christmas) and save them to my computer. All videos prior to this were taken on the regular camera. It should have been easy, but the software CD has been lost! I'm happy to report that while doing a massive over-haul of the desk, I found the CD, installed the software, and uploaded the videos.

This one was taken just the other day. C can now empty the utensil drawer faster than I can go and let the dogs out. Hopefully I've removed all dangerous objects from the drawer! She's Miss Personality! (She gets that from her daddy!) We L-O-V-E that she can communicate so well with us now!

Now that I know how to do this I can hopefully post videos more often!

The Meltng Pot

2009-03-09T10:22:00.004-05:00

The Melting Pot...Oh how I love thee! R and I first visited The Melting Pot while on our babymoon in Chicago. The whole dinner ordeal took around 3 hours, and we loved it! I was eating for two and took full advantage of that!

September 2007

The next time we went was for Valentine's Day in 2008. As evidenced by the picture, we still weren't sleeping all night (with a two-month old) and being out past 10:00 was a stretch for us. We loved it the second time too!

February 2008

We went one other time in December of 2008 but just had dessert. We didn't get any pictures taken!

This past weekend we went for our 3rd full dinner-shebang! After a delicious mimosa, we started out with our usual: Cheddar Cheese Fondue with aged, medium-sharp Cheddar and Emmenthaler Swiss cheeses, lager beer, garlic and seasonings. You dip bread, veggies and Granny Smith apple in it! It makes my mouth water just to think about it! (That is what we are eating in the picture below!)

March 2009

Our entree was next and included teryaki sirloin, fillet Mignon, Key West shrimp, chicken, and Memphis BBQ pork tenderloin. We cooked it (as we've done every time) in the Coq au Vin style which includes flavors of fresh herbs, mushrooms, garlic, spices and burgundy wine. We had potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms and squash to cook that way as well. They have all kinds of fantastic dipping sauces to try along with your meat and veggies!

AND THEN THE BEST PART! I would have licked the bowl if it wouldn't have embarrassed Ryan! The milk chocolate fondue with all the dippers...And when we were done, I believe there were only two marshmallows and one banana slice left on the plate!

We left stuffed and happy and thankful for a leisurely dinner and a chance to visit, eat and enjoy each other's company. I do think The Melting Pot will have a place in our relationship for a long, long time!

3-0

2009-03-09T09:49:00.004-05:00

My hubby turned the big 3-0 at the end of February, so I wanted to do something special for him. With some hard work, creative thinking, help from friends like Dana, Charla, Alicia, Nicki & Kimberly, and an Excel spreadsheet, I succeeded in getting him 30 presents and wrapping each one individually! He was completely surprised and I think he enjoyed opening each gift. C carefully took each present to her daddy, gave it to him, and then clapped and smiled before she ran and got the next one. Sweet memories! I'm including the final gift list in case anyone needs some ideas!

1. Box of Hot Tamales
2. Bag of Andes Mints
3. New headphones/earbuds
4. UNO (card game)
5. 6-pack of Dublin Dr. Pepper
6. A&M flip-flops
7. Loofah
8. Aftershave lotion
9. New Pat Green CD "What I'm For"
10. Air freshener for his truck
11. Flash drive
12. 3-pack of gum
13. Kit Kats
14. Magnetic picture frame
15. Cherry chapstick
16. Camo shorts
17. New box of golf balls
18. Men's hand lotion
19. Bottle of Chardonnay (his favorite)
20. Sudoku book
21. Shaving/Toiletry bag
22. Peanut Butter Sandwich Girl Scout Cookies
23. Mag-Lite flashlight
24. Polo button-down shirt
25. Socks
26. Boxer briefs
27. BBQ grill cleaner brush
28. Texas Rangers hat
29. Peppered beef jerky
30. $10 Sonic gift card

(P.S. One of my rules was that none of the gifts could be "crap gifts"! You know, no little trinkets from the Dollar Store or anything. I wanted everything to be useful!)

The new slide!

2009-03-05T18:00:00.003-06:00

Time: March 5th around 5:30 p.m.
Place: Our backyard
Who: Precious C
What: Her NEW slide!
I feel fairly certain someone is going to sleep really well tonight! She went around and around and up and down no less than 20 times! SO MUCH FUN!

2009-03-03T08:26:00.005-06:00

Howdy, guys! C and I are back in Texas after a long weekend in NC! We had SO much fun with Aunt Audrey and Sam! You can see Audrey's post about the weekend here.

Thanks for all of your advice on flying with a toddler! The flight there on Thursday was PERFECT! C had a minor breakdown going through security because I had to take her snack cup away and send it through the x-ray scanner, but after that she was a gem! They moved us to the back of the plane where there was an empty seat next to mine. She loved sitting in her own seat like a big girl. She didn't even flinch when we took off or landed. After a couple of books (and a flip through the Sky Mall Magazine), I gave her 2 teething tablets and she slept the rest of the trip! Three words for anyone flying with a toddler...Hyland's Teething Tablets! Those saved me on both flights! The flight home on Sunday was very crowded, but we made it!

Here are a few pics from our fast and furious trip!

C and Sam in the bathtub! They loved splashing and playing and putting bubbles on each other's heads!

Is she a cheese-ball or what? We went to a fantastic museum on Friday. They had a big display outside with all kinds of musical things for the kids to bang on. C was cautious at first, but warmed up nicely!

Gosh, she's a big girl! Not a little baby any more! She was SO proud of herself just walking all around, looking at the animals and waving at the other children. Made her mommie beam!

Sam was happy to offer a hug! It was precious seeing them interact!

Audrey and I both enjoyed looking in the back seat and seeing our little sweeties! This pic was taken after a delicious lunch at Chic-Fil-A!

Thanks for having us, Audrey & Sam!

P.S. We had professional pics made of Sam and C while we were in NC. Carrie is a friend of Audrey's and she took some beautiful shots. I'll post more later!!

Leaving on a jet plane...

2009-02-23T13:50:00.002-06:00

...with a 14 month old!

Hey, y'all! I'm soliciting tips and advice for flying with a toddler. C and I are leaving Thursday morning around 11 to fly to North Carolina to spend some time with our besties, Audrey & Sam. The flight is around 2.5 hours, and will partly be during nap time. And if that wasn't enough, we just started C on antibiotics this morning for an ear infection. Lovely!

Have you flown with a toddler? How did you make it a happy experience for everyone involved?

I appreciate y'all!

What a day!

2009-02-14T20:12:00.004-06:00

For a low-key family, we've managed to cram a WHOLE lot of fun in this day!

It all started when little C decided to sleep past 7:30! Whoop! We got up and did our morning stuff and let daddy sleep until 8:30 before we went in and showered him with Valentine's kisses! Then we all got dressed and went to Tristan's 2nd birthday party! It had a western theme, but we don't own any western clothes, so we went with the strawberry look. I'm certain that SOMEONE in the wild west ate strawberries at some point!

C really got a kick out of mowing the lawn! R already has big plans to buy her a mower come spring!

I believe it is MORE than obvious what C thought of the pony ride! She seemed to be okay when we were in motion, but she had a death grip on me and squirmed to get off when we stopped. She managed to go one loop around the back yard. One of the ponies laid down on the ground and rolled over, and that made C cry. She was brave and humored us but only ONCE!

She MUCH preferred swinging with her daddy and watching the other children ride the horses.

We left the party a little before noon, and C crashed almost before we left the subdivision! She slept the whole way home and woke as we were turning in our driveway. She ate a good lunch and then took a 2 1/2 hour nap. After some milk and a snack, it was on to our next adventure of the day!

C, R, Big Bird, and I went to watch the Aggies play Baylor in basketball. This was C's first game ever (although she should get credit for all the ones that have been on tv in her presence!) She didn't seem bothered by the noises or the people. She sat on my lap most of the game and just soaked it all in. She was an angel!

The only time she got scared was when the lady next to us would whistle. There were some other A&M fans in front of us and when the lady whistled, she tried to whistle at them. C and I took one break at halftime and then left when there was about 1 minute left. We walked around the corridor and waited for daddy.

We made it home just a little bit ago. C almost fell asleep several times while taking her bath and drinking her bah-bah! I don't think she'll have any trouble sleeping tonight...and I don't think I will either!

What a fun, blessed day!

P.S. What do you think of the blog-makeover that Teale did for me? You can check her out by clicking on the button over on the side! She's amazing!

Tagged Twice

2009-02-10T13:00:00.001-06:00

A while back, Kimberly tagged me with “Honest Scrap” and recently Heather tagged me with something else really similar. Basically they both ask you to do the same thing…

1. Tell 7 honest facts about yourself that are interesting, strange, or weird.
2. Tag 7 other bloggers to play.
3. Leave a comment on the blogs of the 7 people you tagged.

So, even though I don’t usually play along with these, this one sounds refreshing! Unlike some other blogs I’ve seen, mine isn’t masked in roses and cheerfulness all the time. I do have bad days, I get mad, and I am hurt sometimes. Life is what it is. With that, here are my 7 “Honest Scraps”!

1. When I was a kid, I picked my nose. And ate it. Often. It did not adversely affect me, I never got worms, and my finger was never bitten by a long toothed snail!

2. I have been treated for depression and anxiety since I was 20. I am thankful DAILY that God made doctors and scientists who have studied the brain and made medicines to help folks when their brain chemicals aren’t just right. I pray that I NEVER have to go back to the way I felt before.

3. I gained 60 pounds when I was pregnant with C. I don’t know how much of it was water, but it has been hypothesized that I developed gestational diabetes after my blood glucose test was done. I’m certain they will watch me very carefully next time.

4. Social situations make me sick to my stomach. Baby showers, wedding showers, Pampered Chef parties—you name it—even my own! If there are more than about 4 people, you can guarantee that I’ll be uncomfortable to a point of actually avoiding the event. I am better if C or R is with me because I at least have one person to talk to. I am not a social butterfly and am much happier doing my own thing. I’m trying to get better.

5. I enjoy an occasional glass of wine (Riesling, White Zinfandel, Gewürztraminer), margarita on the rocks, or Mexican beer with lime and salt. I didn’t have a drink until I turned 21. It took me a LONG time to get to the point where I was okay with having a drink. Just part of being raised Southern Baptist I guess.

6. I broke my nose when I was little (and no, I wasn’t picking it when I broke it!) To this day, I do not have cartilage in my nose. It can be pressed FLAT against my face. Some people think it looks really gross. What do you think?

7. I have been “put under” 4 times in my life. Once when I had my wisdom teeth removed (summer between high school and college), once for a colonoscopy in May of 2005, once during the c-section when I had C, and again for another colonoscopy in August of 2008. Being “put under” is the strangest feeling in the world!

I'm TAGGING Audrey, Charla, Alicia, Katie Rae, Sami, Joshua & Amy. (But only do it if you want to!)

Pure joy.

2009-02-09T09:27:00.000-06:00

My Girl

2009-02-04T14:54:00.002-06:00

Thanks to all of you who have asked about Little C! Last Thursday (wow, almost a week ago!) was the worst as far as her spots were concerned. Thank God (truly!), by Saturday her spots were all but GONE! She's back to feeling 100% and in my opinion, she's 100% precious! Hey, I'm allowed to say that! I'm her mother! We never really figured out what caused the spots--allergic reaction or virus--but we'll stay away from penicillin and possibly take her to an allergist when she gets a little older. Currently (as evidenced by the picture) she L-O-V-E-S being outside, eating all of her food with her hands (i.e. picking up chunks of food as opposed to having it fed to her), and she said her first sentence this weekend! She was mad at Gabby the dog and she said, "No no doggie!" It was adorable!

Thank you for your prayers and concern!

2009-02-03T10:55:00.002-06:00

It is an exciting day! My very favorite author has a new book out TODAY! I just learned even better news…That this book is the first in a new trilogy!

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

Makes me so happy! Her first series, The Big Stone Gap series, has been read, re-read, and passed around to so many family and friends. I’m certain this one will make the trip as well. Her stand-alone books are currently displayed on top of my filing cabinet in my cubicle! They are fantastic as well!

And this just makes me GIDDY…A few weeks ago I read somewhere that Adriana was writing a young adult novel. I went poking around on her website to see if I could find out anything about it. I found out that she was in fact writing a YA novel and that it was coming out in November of 2009. I’m presenting a session in October on the best new picks in YA literature, so on a WHIM, I emailed Adriana (never thinking it would make it to her!) to see if I could get an advance reader copy. Within 30 minutes of pressing send, ADRIANA herself emailed me back. She began the email with Corrie, darling! She said I will get the FIRST advance reader copy hot off the presses! I was squealing with delight!

I tried to explain to R that this would be like Michael Jordan emailing him. That put it a little in perspective!

I’ll be heading over to B&N during lunch to pick up Very Valentine (which has nothing to do with Valentine’s Day, by the way). If you need a funny, well-written, and engaging book (or just a break from vampires like I do!) check out ANY ONE of Adriana’s books. You can browse them here.

Oh to be a lover of books and words! I hope desperately to pass this love on to C! Happy Reading, friends!

Update

2009-01-29T11:52:00.002-06:00

Howdy! We went to the doctor this morning. I'll try to explain what he said...

When we went on Tuesday, the spots were just red whelp looking spots. Since she was on penicillin, he concluded an allergy to penicillin.

Since then, she's gotten more spots, and these new spots are called target lesions. They are red around the outside with a lighter color in the middle. Those can be from an allergic reaction to penicillin, but it is rare. The thought now is that it may be a viral infection that is causing the spots. We're hoping they have "peaked" and will start decreasing and/or improving. We're to call him back on Saturday and go from there. If they've started clearing, we'll know we're over the hump. If they are the same or worse we may consider treating her with steroids. He just didn't want to jump to that option first. I appreciate that!

She also has a respiratory infection (way to go, Dr. Mom!), a double eye infection, and her ear "doesn't look good." So we've got a non-penicillin based antibiotic and eye drops. Mommie has a sinus infection (lovely!) and some antibiotics to take as well.

The wee one is going down for her nap, and I'll be following her shortly. R's mom is coming over to play with C this afternoon so I can rest, and my mom will be here this evening to stay the night. We're so blessed to have family so close by.

Thanks for the prayers for my little speckled girl!

Seeing is believing...

2009-01-28T19:48:00.002-06:00

The picture I posted on Monday of the red spots on C's neck PALE in comparison to how she looks now! Bless her little heart! Y'all pray for her! Pray that she can sleep good, that she'll feel much better in the morning, and that the doctor will know how to treat her!

This is the worst looking picture. You can see her sad, sleepy eyes, lots of the spots, and the snot that WILL NOT stop coming out of her nose!

R stayed home with her today. We didn't feel good sending her to Nana's and I had a presentation. She had more spots when she woke up this morning, her left eye was crusted over, and her nose was caked with dried snot. The doctor told R that it would take 3-4 days for the penicillin to work out of her system and not to worry unless her fever went above 100.4. Lo and behold, it got up to 101.4 this afternoon. R called the doctor and he was already gone. The NP said to give her Motrin and we're going back to the doctor at 9 in the morning.

Dr. Mom's guess is that the amoxicillin that we took all last week to clear up the ear infection didn't do anything to cure the infection because it was fighting with her body. What was once an ear infection has now turned into a full-blown upper respiratory infection. I'll let you know if I'm right. Even though she doesn't feel good, she's still been relatively happy. She's completely fascinated with throwing random items in the trash can, so that is how she's keeping herself entertained!

On a MUCH less severe level, I have been feeling bad. Sneezing, sinus drainage, sore throat, and just run-down. I'll be mentioning that to the doctor tomorrow too!