August & Loralye at 3 months

So on March 13th my baby girls turned 3 months old! It is amazing how fast time flies by. Ill admit, I have been quite teary eyed about how big my girls are getting. It makes me sad that I can't keep them as little chubby babies forever. These 2 sweet girls have completely turned this family upside down...in a good way. I still remember finding out that we were having twins. I was excited and nervous. Okay...not just nervous- scared to death! Why on earth would God decide that I, of all mothers, could handle twins?! I know He doesn't make mistakes, but I was really questioning His judgement on that one! But now, just about 10 months down the road, I can understand His decision. I can't imagine my life without these 3 little beauties in it. When I really take a moment and think about it, I am shocked that we have made it this far without mental breakdowns! But, my 2 baby girls are really wonderful, happy babies. While they both look just alike, they both have VERY different personalities! They keep us busy with all their particular little ways of doing things!

Sweet baby August! This beautiful little girl is teaching me patience. If things are not perfectly according to her schedule, she will turn purple in the face before you can figure out what she wants. You must have a bottle in her mouth as soon as she's hungry and when she is done playing, she is DONE and you must pick her up right then! She is definitely the more dramatic of the two. But, the most wonderful thing about August is she loves to sleep! If it weren't for her sister, she would take 3 hour naps and sleep for a minimum of 10 hours a night! Unfortunately for her (and for mommy & daddy) she has to wake up and eat when sissy does. August has the one thing I prayed for when I found out my girls were identical...a distinguishing mark! For the first month or so, we painted one of her fingernails to keep the girls from completely confusing us. Then, she slowly had this little blue vein on the bridge of her nose get darker and darker. Thank God! If all else fails and we can't tell the girls apart, we just look for that little blue vein. There are three things that August loves...her swing, her paci and her cuddle square! There are many times that she would prefer to be in her swing rather than be cuddled. If you want a happy girl, you just put her in her swing, turn on her white noise machine, give her a paci and stick that little cuddle square in her hand! She will rub that little cloth on her face until she falls asleep. Her main color is pink, and Loralye's is purple. We love to dress them in the same outfits with the 2 different colors. Pink is perfect for her, because she is our dramatic little girly girl! Even though she is impatient, sometimes extremely cranky and not the best burper; I wouldn't change a thing about her! She has her super sweet moments that make all the rough moments worth it. She is already a daddy's girl and in many ways, she is my easier baby.

My sweet Loralye James! Man, does her name really suit her! She is just like her Uncle Siwwy in so many ways. She has energy for days and most of the time she refuses to sleep for us. She prefers to eat every 2 hours...on the dot! She is also a big fan of her swing, but she would rather be cuddling with someone. She is a big people person! She smiles and giggles and coos at everyone she meets! As long as you give her undivided attention, you are her new best friend! She has the biggest toothless grin and she's not afraid to show it off. She is not a big fan of playing on her tummy, I supose because she is quite nosey. She likes to know what is going on around her. She prefers to be very independent. She is already trying to hold her own bottle, even if she ends up throwing it out of her mouth more than she holds it in (lack of muscle control). She was the first to start smiling and talking. She is certainly our laid back baby! It takes a lot to get her upset. She had a rough start from the beginning, so I think as long as she is not poked, prodded, put naked under uv lamps or having sweet little bones broken, she is one happy little girl! You can not talk to her while she is eating, or she will smile so much that she just stops eating. She would much rather have her fingers in her mouth than her paci. But, becase of her thumb sucking big sissy, we have forced the paci on her. She has a lay-under toy that she just loves! It has a little moving dog that she smiles at constantly! She would much rather be under that toy than anywhere else. She doesn't sleep much during the day, but she does sleep through the night...until 5 a.m. She wakes up whining at first, then crying. By the time I have her bottle made, I walk in to find her scooted all the way up to the head of her crib. She screams through her diaper change & once she finally gets that morning bottle in her mouth, she is sound asleep. If she has trouble getting herself to sleep, she shakes, or should I say thrashes her head back and forth until she finally dozes off. Loralye looks jut like Veda did at her age. A sweet, chubby round face with rosy cheeks! There are many times when I look at her and she reminds me so much of James! I really believe God made her especially like her uncle, and it is such a comfort to me. And while her sissy is a daddy's girl, she certainly is the opposite...my sweet mama's girl!

So, this is the latest on my two sweet girls! They are changing and growing so much every day. While I am so excited for all of the new things to come, I find myself sad about how fast it goes by. We are really cherishing every moment, even the cranky ones. These two have already taught me so much and they have given me confidence in my abilities as a parent. I never thought I could handle 2 babies and a wild toddler. But, despite the lack of sleep, the lack of time to myself and all of the added work, I find myself able to make it through most days with a smile on my face. Everyday I wake up thanking God for 3 beautiful girls...and for strong coffee! =)

"mama, i wanna jumpy jumpy in my bounce house!"

So, as most of you know, we recently purchased a trampoline for little miss Veda. I was really excited to find a used one on craigslist for super cheap. Shane picked it up in kinston from a pastor who gave him an even cheaper deal because shane is in the service. He also prayed with Shane about his deployment coming up this summer. Such a sweet man! Amazing how God will bless you when you least expect it! While Shane had an easy time taking the trampoline apart& lugging it to goldsboro, putting it back together was NOT so easy. We had the trampoline itself up in about 30 minutes, but apparently the safety net was much too complicated for the two of us. 3 1/2 hours and one very impatient toddler later, we finally had it back in working order!

I must say, this has been one of the smartest purchases we have made since the minivan! Veda loves to jump in what she calls her "bounce house." She was timid at first...i know, shocking! But, she now spends a good portion of her day jumping, dancing, singing and what she calls cheerleading. The trampoline has really turned into an all out family affair! Throughout the day, Veda always wants me to jump with her. Although i don't always have the energy to jump, she doesn't take no for an answer! So i get a great deal of exercise on that thing...much needed exercise i might add! And when daddy comes home, he is free game. It takes a lot to get the two of them off of that thing for dinner or baths or errands or ANYTHING! Most evenings we all three jump for quite a while. The babies love being outside. We lay them on their play mat and they will play quietly for as long as we let them. So, we all get some nice fresh air and shane and i try to recapture some of our childhood. By bed time, Veda crashes while mommy and daddy slowly remember that we are getting too old to be jumping on a trampoline...we are feeling the pain!

Something about jumping brings back so many memories of jumping with my brother and sister as kids. I recall lots of fun times with James and Megan and it gives me butterflies remembering all of us as carefree little kids. I remember falling off, getting the breath knocked out of me, and i remember getting right back up and jumping some more. I wish i was still that fearless. Fortunately, kids usually pick up right there their parents left off. Veda is so resilient! I am really looking forward to the summer and making so many more memories on that trampoline...even if Shane and I need to be medicated and/or hospitalized to keep up our jumping game. =)

the only way to child-proof your home is to glue your toddler's hands together

In Veda's defense, i was very tied up cleaning out her baby sisters' closet. She just had WAY too much time on her hands! She has just recently learned how to open the refrigerator door and it has become somewhat of an obsession for the past few days. Most of the time, i catch her with her fingers in the jello. Fortunately, the jello was made especially for her, so i just let her grab a handfull and stick it in her mouth. It is just one of those battles where i choose not to fight. Raise the white flag and let her have her way. I mean, a handfull of jello wont ruin her apetite for real meals. She also has an obsession with chocolate milk. At a minimum, she asks for it about 10 times each day. I have tried to limit it for after-meal treats, in hopes that i can convince her to eat more. But today, she apparently wasn't taking no for an answer.

So, after being in the closet for about 10 minutes, i realized it was eerily quiet in my house. I walk slowly into the kitchen, already assuming the worst. I was able to snap this picture before she turned around with a guilty look on her face continuing to squirt chocolate EVERYWHERE! Ill admit, it was hard not to laugh...i should haved known better. I calmly walked her back to her room and closed the door for a timeout. Fortunately the babies were playing quietly on their mats, so i got to cleaning the floor that i JUST CLEANED YESTERDAY!! Once i was done, i went to let veda out of her room, only to find that she had taken every single piece of clothing out of her dresser after i had just cleaned it out and reorganized it! She was now wearing a pair of leggings instead of the jeans i had put her in (i suppose chocolate covered denim was not the fashion statement she was going for). I reminded myself to breathe, opened the door and sent her on her way and then began to organize all of her clothes...again.

After all of this excitement, there were only 2 words that could make everything all better...

NAP TIME!!!

just one of those days

Today is one of those bitter sweet days where i catch myself thinking about my brother throughout every activity. It is sweet to think of all the memories i made with him and bitter to know that i don't have him around anymore. So, i spent some time on his caring bridge page today reading his journal entries. It was as if he was still here...his personality really shines through with each entry and it warms my heart. I found an entry that really touched me more this time than it did the fist time i read it and ill share it with you.

"Tommorow the 29th, God has blessed me with my 25th birthday. Couple of months ago I wasn't sure if I would make it this far because you never know what the future holds and if God wants you to be with Him. But God's grace and mercy is so massive it makes me cry thinking about it."
January 28, 2009

Such a beautiful thought! It gives me butterflies just reading it, because i can hear him saying it. My brother was such a wonderful person and i miss him dearly. I hope you all take from his words the peace that i do.

first post!

   so, i have had a few people tell me that i should start a blog.  as you can see, after some thought...i decided to go for it.  i figure this is a good way for my non facebook family and friends to keep up with all of the new and exciting things with our family.  i am very excited about this new connection with what i call "the real world".  as most of you know, i dont get out of the baby/toddler world very often!  please excuse the simplicity of my blog/posts.  i will mostly be posting from my phone, so you wont see much fancy shmancy stuff coming from me!  but, i hope you all will be somewhat interested in what i have to say.

    i am sure everyone completely understands the title of my blog!  i certainly am a one woman circus.  i am juggling a 2 1/2 year old daughter and 2...yes 2 three month olds!  we have good days and bad days, but so far the good days have made all of the bad days totally worth it.  =)  this is not exactly how i had expected my life to turn out, but i absolutely love every day with my family and i wouldnt change a thing!  i am so thankful for an amazing husband and these three precious gifts.

    So, i figure i will start my blog off the right way.  in true christa fashion...things i love today:  the way loralye is so talkative with everyone she meets, the way veda's hair grows out instead of down, august's wild burst of leg energy in the bath tub, strawberry pretzel salad (if you havent had it, google the recipe and make it!), the way veda drags my old maternity shirt all over the house while she sucks her thumb, how handsome shane looks in collared shirts, the lack of laundry strewn all over the house and "the happiest toddler on the block" book! =)