Today we rode a horse!!!

Tonight I took some photos of my mom's horses for her and we just *had* to let the girls ride on Doc. He is 'their' horse for when they get older and tonight they got to meet him for the first time. Riding the horse (i.e. bouncing on my leg) is one of their FAVORITE games to play and they kick and rock to get the 'horse' going again when I stop. Its so cute! Here are some snapshots of them on Doc tonight-- despite the look on Parker's face in some of these, she really did love it and was giggling most of the time.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today was Jason's 31st birthday! We let the girls play naked in their swimming pool, we BBQ'd, had cake and icecream, gifts and fun. Check out the girls with their Daddy!

Bring the Rain

My all time favorite blog is Bring the Rain: http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/

This woman has had me sobbing in tears at 1:00 am after which, I sneak into the twins' room to stroke them and stare at them. Then, the next day, she has me laughing so hard that Jason thinks I have lost my mind. Seriously, she is an amazing woman and mother.

Well, her post today is PERFECT. Its exactly how I feel about the girls' clothing in the coming years, Target (which, by the way, is my FAVE store) and the Trapper Keeper. LOL!!!

Check out her blog (is the square link on the right side of my blog page) and if you have time for a real story, start at the beginning. WOW!

P.S. When you get to the story about the chicken, don't be drinking anything-- it will surely be spat all over your keyboard when you erupt into laughter!

My new 'do!

Ok, so I don't have a "good" picture of me and my new 'do yet but I have some snippets...these are not the final product and not fully styled, etc. but can give you an idea of how it tured out!

Tomorrow is a big day!

I am cutting off my hair!!! See the post below...I have decided to do the a-line pictured at the bottom. I will do a similar length in the back and slightly longer in the front to give a more dramatic effect. Only issue is I am still growing my bangs so they will not give that sharp length in the front but I don't care! I am R-E-A-D-Y for a change!!! Bleach and scissors here I come!!!

PJ's, sniffles and mom...

We have had a cold run thru our house recently. It started with Dad (always blame Dad), then the girls got it and now Mom has it...ick! As all the mom's out there will attest, there are no sick days for mommies are there? A sore throat, sniffles and sinus pressure is no fun when you are chasing and lifting twins all day.

Thankfully, Addisen still had a touch when mine started so she wanted to cuddle and rest with me. So, we took our place on the couch and walked Parker rule the roost! HA HA!





In other news, the girls wore "big girl jammies" last night for the first time...pants and a top. No snaps, no zippers, no footies (as well call footed jammies)...just big girl jammies. You can almost see the pride on their little faces! :)
Parker:


Addisen:


And, Addisen now sucks her thumb more and more. I have NO issues with this as a thumb sucker of 9 years. Yes, I sucked my thumb until I was 9. I never had or needed braces and have had no issues because of it. I personally see nothing wrong with it and she does it so rarely anyway. Regardless, we caught it on camera finally.



P.S. I hate using the flash but had no choice at bedtime for PJ photos. Sorry!

"Bop!"

You know those V-8 commercials when people get 'bopped' in the forehead? That is my newest favorite thing to do when I hear something ridiculous! My boss' son is expecting his 1st little girl with his TEENY tiny girlfriend. She is 19 and weighs NOTHING. She is complaining that she is 'so big' and 'so uncomfortable' at 25 weeks with ONE baby. 'Bop!' HA HA! Looking back at my photos, I have to laugh when I hear a mom whining...oh, how clueless they are! HA HA! Here is my belly progress from last year. Oh my!

4 weeks, 5 days- the day we found out we were pregnant!


7 weeks, 5 days- we did not yet know it was twins.


8 weeks, 2 days- the day we found out there was 2 babies! (Ignore the mess in the office, we were moving the room to another room of the house)


10 weeks, 2 days- gotta love my PJ's. I was in the throws of morning sickness MADNESS!


15 weeks, 1 day- I skipped a bit because it looked almost the same as the 10 weeks.


18 weeks, 6 days- OH MY LORD!


20 weeks- I was measuring about 6-8 weeks ahead at this point.


21 weeks, 2 days- lots of growth in 9 days!


23 weeks, 2 days


25 weeks, 5 days- the beginning of bedrest and the swelling. Ugh!


My 1st trip to Labor & Delivery at 26 weeks. Middle of the night, on terbutaline and not feeling so great.


28 weeks, 6 days:


31 weeks, 1 day. I was admitted to the hospital for a few days the next day. :(


32 weeks, 4 days...and swelling by the second. Oh my lord!!!


My last 'official' belly shot at 33 weeks, 3 days:


At the time the last one was taken, I could not get into ANY shoes except one old pair of black flip flops and one pair of slippers. My face was unrecognizable. My BP was starting to creep up. I still had 8 days to go! How I survived those last 8 days is beyond me now. I remember sobbing. I remember poor Jason sleeping on an air mattress on the bedroom floor. I remember BEGGING the twins to come out or for my water to break so they could be delivered. It was a nightmare. I quit going out in public. I no longer fit in a booth at restaurants. I started getting pointed at and stared at. It was a nightmare. =( I do have some photos of me being wheeled into the OR and one last belly pic before the delivery but those are NOT going on the internet! HA HA!!!

After the twins were born, I would hobble into see them in the NICU, holding my inciscion and bracing my belly with a pillow. I saw all sorts of people STILL staring at me and asking me-- wait for it-- if I was there to deliver A baby!!! OMG! I wanted to punch them! I usually smiled and said "nope. I just had TWO babies" and hobbled away as fast as I could.

Those memories seem like a lifetime ago now. Its somewhat sad, but also really nice to see how far we've come. So, when my boss told me today that her son's girlfriend is really uncomfortable at 125 lbs, I just smiled and said "well, my level of sympathy has changed in the last year for those things". HA HA!

Cutting my hair?

These are the same hair cuts just styled differently. What does everyone think? Should I do it? I am thinking perhaps a tiny bit longer version of this?





Like this length maybe? This is even a little shorter than I was thinking though...

My cup runneth over...

"My cup runneth over"...That has always been one of my favorite lines to use in reference to something. It seems to fit here lately. My cup runneth over. It runs over with love for my growing girls (who will be a YEAR OLD already next month...WHEN did that happen?!). It runs over with appreciation that my mom can watch the girls for me while I work 2 days per week. It runs over with appreciation for our NEW kitchen flooring! =)

My cup also runs over with busy-ness, appointments and work. I do not have a single day without an appointment of some kind (or 2-3-4 appointments per day) for like the next MONTH. Literally. I am overwhelmed to even think about it!!!

Now, the 'icky' part of this blog entry. I am losing my hair. Losing it by the HANDFULS. I thought it was a post-partum thing so I went to my general doc and he said not this late in the game and did a battery of blood tests (thyroid testing, antibody testing, anemia, glucose, metabolic panels...you name it). All normal. Then it occured to me. I have a Mirena IUD (it has progesterone in it) and it is apparently a VERY common side effect to... GO BALD?! WTH?! Regardless, I called my OB today to get an appointment and the stupid advice nurse gave me the run around. This chick also gave me the run around when I *knew* something was wrong with me and my pregnancy the week the twins were born (she believed it was 'normal' to have protein in my urine, an elevated BP and to suddenly gain massive amounts of water weight and swell...well, its not). She even has the nerve to call me "honey" in the most condescending of tones imaginable. I would be fired if I talked to my patients in the manner I have been talked to by this lady over the course of the last year. Regardless, I am seeing my doc on Monday. I also have a small pea sized lump above my mid-right breast that I want her to check out. Please keep me in your prayers at this appointment. I am sure its nothing 'lump like' but we never know now days, right? To be honest, I almost thought it should be seen by a dermatologist instead of a gynecologist but we will let her decide that and go from there. =)

Ok, more pics of the monsters...I mean, darlings. More pics of the DARLINGS! This is the new 'laundry basket race car'...the new FAVE toy!

Lazy Sundays

On Sunday's Jason lets me sleep in til...9:00 AM! Ha ha! When did 9AM become 'sleeping in'? And when did listening to the girls screaming, playing and daddy talking from 7:30-9:00 become sleeping in? Anyway, Sundays are my favorite day of the week because yard work is finished up on Saturday, I get to sleep in, we rarely shower before dinner time and we rent movies and play with the girls all day. Today was no exception. Well, except that Jason cleaned the garage. While he did, the girls and I played on the patio and in the yard with the greatest two toys of all time...what are these fabulous must-have items, you wonder?

A Pampers box:




Addisen loved it. We used the cut out handle area to pull her around in the box and she held on...we called it her 'car' and she laughed and giggled. She also sat in it and pulled the top part in like a fort and peeked out. I am telling you, since we basically have a diaper Costco in the garage, this could be the GREATEST new toy we have!

Parker was playing in the hand me down swing we inherited from another mom:




Last night, the 'cool' toy was a regtangular laundry basket that they could both sit in with a pink dog leash attached at one end. We drug them through Nanny's house, up & down the hall, around the kitchen island...all over. They LOOOVED it! We are making the large investment today in a regtangular laundry basket at Wal-Mart because all of ours are round. Its so fun to see them reach the age where everyday items become 'toys'!

The search for the perfect sippy cup

At last, we have found our holy grail of 'sippy cup land' with the Nuby Gripper Cup.


We have tried converting our Avent bottles into sippies. We have tried them with and without handles. We tried the Gerber sippys. The only way they would drink water or even juice was in a glass or a water bottle (like Mommy does it).

When I saw these in a 2 pack at my local Target for a fraction of the cost of other brands, I thought "what the heck". I even tossed them into the cabinet of long lost sippys only to pull them out this week and say "oh yeah!"...so today we tried them and they LOVED them. They loved the soft silicone spout I think the best and I mixed a splash of grape pedialyte into their water just to entice the drinking some more.

Just had to share-- we found a sippy!!!

Spaghetti!

Mmmm! The girls are eating more and more of 'our foods' and less and less of their baby foods. Its nice but also a little more difficult. The other day they had spaghetti...they did ok with it but they can't eat our spaghetti yet. They did really well with elbow macaroni though. Another new item they like is mandarin orange slices diced up as finger foods. Mmmm!

Addisen's "BEFORE SPAGHETTI" photo:


Parker's "BEFORE" photo:


Parker likes it!


Addisen is not quite sure...