8 Years

Eight years ago today, Wes and I got married. We married 11 months after we met and haven't slowed down yet. We have been through a lot together; career changes, going back to school, new jobs, infertility, pregnancy complications and twins. Through all this, we still love each other and being together.

Going to see the pumpkins

Amy and I decided to take our kids to see the pumpkins at the Arboretum. We decided to do something new and take 1 car with all 4 kids. So here is the math, 2 adults and 4 toddlers in one mini van. Are we crazy or what? It was quite comical as we put the cars seats in, fit 2 double strollers and all the kids. At one point Gracie threw here sippy out of the car, where it rolled under the car and I had to crawl under to get it.

Finally we get everything in the car (after 2 tries of getting the strollers in) and we are off. We are making good time until we hit traffic that has 635 shut down in both directions. I exit and the GPS keeps trying to get me to go back on the freeway. After being in the car for about an hour, we get to the Arboretum. The girls have a blast and play in the pumpkins. It was fun, we had lunch and then head home (the fruit snacks helped). The girls laugh and talk all the way home except for Reese who fell asleep. All the girls kept saying "Reese wake up". It was so cute!

Once we get back, we have to take all of Amy's stuff out and pray the girls will take a nap. I was lucky and they did.

Children's Museum

On Friday, we went to the Children's Museum with Amy, Reese and Riley. We made the long drive to Dallas and parked our cars. We wandered around for a bit because we didn't know which building it was in in Fair Park. We finally found it and all the girls loved it. The girls loved exploring and see all that the museum had to offer.

After we had enough, we decided it was time for lunch. We decided to go to the Old Mill Inn that is next to the museum. It was great! We were treated like queens. They helped us to our table, cleaned up our messes, gave us complimentary fruit and told us how lovely our girls were. Amy and I wanted to eat there every day!

Here are some pictures of the fun.

Our friends Reese and Riley with Lizzie. Gracie was "driving" the fire truck.

Walking on the balance beam

Walking through spider webs

The fun water table. They all loved this and wanted to go back.

Rocking on horses

After lunch, notice Lizzie still eating? All the other kids were done and she wasn't. I finally just let her take it with here

These moments are hard to come by....

Look no fighting!

Sick Day 2

We had big plans for this weekend. We thought about going to the zoo in the morning and then meeting friends for Grapefest in Grapevine. All that was canceled when we started day 2 of Gracie's virus with a temperature of 105. She had another icky day. However, she did feel better today than yesterday. I hope she will be fever free soon.

Lizzie on the other hand has been great but with all the attention Gracie is getting, Lizzie has been acting out a little. She has been talking up a storm. I took her shopping this morning while Daddy took Gracie for a walk in the wagon. The girls missed each other but were good. We called home at one point and Lizzie wanted to talk to Gracie. They were cute. Then this evening, Wes took Lizzie to the grocery store to pick up some stuff for dinner. They had a great time. Lizzie asked what everything was on the shelves.

Lizzie with dinner all over her face. It must have been good because she shoveled it in like crazy.

Poor little Gracie loving on Daddy.

Sick day

I should have known that last night was not going to be good. I went to my MPOM dinner and had to leave the girls with a sitter. Wes was out of town for work. I get home around 11:00 and the sitter tells me that Gracie has a fever. She gave her Motrin and put her in bed. After I heard that, I knew that I was going to be up all night.

Around 11:30 pm, I gave her another dose of Motrin and tried to decide if I was going to sleep in their room. Because Gracie has a history of fibrile seizures and reactive airway disease, we have to keep on top of her fever so it won't spike and cause her to seize. I finally decide to stay with Gracie in her bed. Big mistake. The Motrin starts working and she starts playing. Finally, around 1:30 am, I went to my bed and woke up at 3:30 am for more Motrin. Again, I decide to try and lay down with Gracie to make sure she is fine. Then Lizzie wakes up and tries to crawl in bed with us. Around 4:45, I go back to my bed so the girls will go to sleep and sleep until 7:00.

The girls get up at 7:30 am and Gracie still has a fever. I decide to give her a lukewarm bath and Lizzie decides she wants in too. I give them breakfast and make an appointment to see Dr. Jim. We eat fast and get dressed to make the appointment

We get to the office and Gracie weighs in at 30 lbs. I ask to have Lizzie weighed and she was 30 1/2 lbs. We see the doctor and he checks Gracie's ears. She tells him she wants Lizzie's ears checked too. So because he is a great doctor, he complies with the 2 year old. It was one of the bright spots of the miserable day. We find out she doesn't have the flu and it's just the random virus with fever and a tiny cough. We pack up our stuff, walk out to the car and get in to find out it is dead. Fortunately, I have AAA. We trudge back into the office, call and 15 minutes later (and several scuffles in the waiting room), the tow truck shows up and jumps the van. We all get back in and head home.

At this point, I call Wes and break down crying. I'm better now. Slowly I'm learning that when you have twins, you learn to make it through anything.

Celebration

Last weekend was my niece Sydney's 9th birthday. We went to Oklahoma to celebrate with the family. Here are just some shots of the fun!

Gracie

Lizzie

The girls with Sydney

Sydney and Lizzie

Gracie and Sam

Rainy Day

This is how we spend a raining day. Watching Wonder Pets and coloring with our new magna doodles. What could be better?

Lizzie love the Wonder Pets

Gracie watching and coloring

My newest creations

These are my latest addiction. I saw these on a blog and in my bead magazine. I found some of the glass squares at Michaels and then I decided to also try out some crystals from Dollar Tree. I really like how the crystals worked out. And yes, I have them laid out on a plastic trash bag. It was the first thing I could find. Sorry the pictures aren't better. Some of the stuff is still drying and I didn't want to move them.

A case of the Mondays

Today was a rough day with the girls. Lizzie woke up cranky. She fussed about everything from getting her diaper changed to eating breakfast. After breakfast, she cranked and fussed at her sister by hitting and pushing.

Our plan today was to meet Karla of Soap Addict for lunch. We picked Chick fil a to meet. I got there first and got the girls out of the car. I was so proud of myself because I carried them both in. That's when the good times ended. I chose to not use a high chair or booster and let the girls sit in the booth. We sat where they could see the drive thru. Big mistake. The girls loved watching the cars and not eat. Then they decided they liked to stand up and bounce in the seat. At one point, Lizzie was hanging over the edge and tipped and fell into the booth behind us. She was fine, just a little stunned and so was the man sitting a booth over from us. I tried not to make eye contact with him because I was not feeling like the best mom at that moment.

We then moved our chaos to the play area. I expected a decent toddler area. Unfortunately, it didn't exist. The girls occupied themselves with a bottom step and running around. Did I mention the play area smelled moldy? Also, dance class must have just gotten out because there were a ton of girls in leotards. There were a couple of mean girls that wanted to sit in the only part that my kids could go in and didn't want any other kids in it. I finally got up and sweetly said that my girls wanted to play in there too. They sweetly said back that it was ok and let the girls in. Karla was a real trooper and hung in there with me! Thanks Karla! I hope you want to meet me again for lunch!

Then it was back home and they fell asleep in the car and refused to take a nap at home. I didn't care, I left them in their room for a couple of hours and they played. I finally get them out and cranky Lizzie is back. Wes finally gets home and takes them outside while I cook dinner. After dinner, I take a break by hiding in our bathroom. Wes knew I was desperate.

It's days like today where I tease Wes that they are trying to make me go back to work. However, even as bad as it can be I'm still happy being with them.

More flowers

I've been making more flowers lately. The girls were invited to a couple of birthday parties so I got busy. Both parties were very fun for the girls. Last weekend, we went to a swim party for Caroline and Lauren who are turning 4 and 2. This weekend was for Reese and Riley who are turning 2!

Fun Toys

This evening, we had visitors so we played in the yard with some of our toys. Our visitors were Grandma, Papa and Nana. Grandma and Papa brought a teeter-totter that was Sydney and Sammy's. The girls loved crawling on it and using it like a horse. Also, we played with our bubble machine. The girls love to play in the bubbles and turn off and on the machine. I need to learn how to make bubbles.

Lizzie and her bubble machine

Girls on the teeter-totter (Papa had to help the balance)

On the teeter-totter

Sweet picture of Lizzie

Sweet one of Gracie

I threw this one in because they were so pretty in their dresses

Crafting

Because I am now home more, I have had a little more time to craft. Before, the only chance I had was at crafting lunch at work. Now, I have less stress and can craft at home. I have had some projects that I wanted to try and never felt I was there craft-wise to do it.

One project I wanted to tackle was a rag wreath. It was so easy and fun to make. I thought I was going to use this "vintage" 70's fabric (thanks Stephanie) that was given to me. I started it and Wes said it was a little much. So, I looked through my fabric stash to find more fabric. See Stephanie, I'm actually using left overs for something. I finished it off by using some of my ribbon that was left over from hair bow making for the girls. I'm thinking I'll make another one for Christmas.

My wreath

Another project I worked on was creating some rosettes for Stephanie's daughter Alex for her 7th birthday. I made a headband and pony tail holder with rosettes. I took a girls headband and wrapped it with a burgundy satin fabric, made a rosette and then a bow with some awesome ribbon I found at Hobby Lobby. Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of a headband on your own head? I forgot to take a picture of the ponytail holder. I thought it was really cute.

More rosettes to come later........

Color, Color

The girls love to color. They are always pulling out their coloring book and crayons to color. They have been know to color on their toys, walls, themselves or furniture. We have to restrict them to coloring at their table.

Lizzie hard at work

Lizzie smiling for the camera

Gracie smiling for the camera

Gracie's funny face

Coloring before they start getting in to trouble for standing on their chairs. Or coloring on their face.

Week 3

This is the beginning of week 3 at home with the girls. Gracie was pretty fussy this morning. I called Wes and told him that she was trying to get me to go back to work. He laughed and said I better not!

We don't really have a big week planned. Yesterday, we went to a birthday party for Alex who turned 7. She is the daughter of one of my former co-workers. It was good to see Stephanie, I've missed her a lot. It was a pool party but Wes and I stayed inside and pretended the pool didn't exist. I decided to make Alex's present and made her a head band with flower and a pony tail holder with flower. It was good to get back to my craftiness!

This morning we went to Ikea with my friend Amy and her sweet girls Reese and Riley. Before we walked out the door, Lizzie had to say good bye to the potties, Molly (dog), Allie (cat) and Leo (cat). Then Gracie was fussy again in the car and Lizzie had to clown around to make Gracie laugh. Its amazing how they are in tune with each other.

On Wednesday Nana comes for a visit. I also have a couple of Melissa activities planned including a lunch with a couple of my former co-workers. I'm very excited!

Just documenting....

The girls are at a stage that they are doing so much stuff, I just wanted to note it so we can look back on it later.

• The girls really love playing in sand, especially Lizzie.
  
• They both love their dog Molly. When we leave the house, they have to say goodbye to Molly, Allie and Leo (cats). They both wave really big.
• The both like to say Hi and Bye to complete strangers. Sometimes they are shy and other times they are very friendly.
• They love to watch people. It's hard to eat at restaurants because they have to know what everyone is doing.
• They like to watch us cook.
• They always want to help. They get very mad if they can't help carry in groceries.
• Lizzie loves the Wonder Pets and calls they "backpack" (I think because of the cape).
• Gracie loves to dance. Anytime music comes on she dances.
• Both girls want ice in their water and like using big girl cups. We are starting to have fewer and fewer spills now.
• They like to hug each other and are very considerate of each other. When one is upset the other tries to console her.
  
• They know when they are good and bad. You can ask if they did something naughty and they are honest.
• They love to pray at night. They will put their hands together and close their eyes. One time during nap time, I was peeking in and Lizzie had a book, turned the pages, closed the book, said "The End" and then put her hands together said "Amen" and went to sleep.

I guess that's enough for now. I'm sure I will think of more and post that too.

Story Time

Today the girls and I went for an outing. I decided to take the girls to the library for story time. Story time starts at 10:30 sharp (don't be late because you don't get in). The girls and I got there too early and had to wait.

To entertain them, I tried lots of things. We first tried to red a book, but they were not interested. Then we went to the fun looking bench. That lasted until we saw the water outside. I was thinking great, we can watch the water for awhile, until I realized it was the emergency exit and the girls wanted to pull the handle. Gracie and Lizzie then decide to run up and down the aisle. I kept thinking, why am I doing this to myself.

Next, Lizzie runs into a chair and screams. I was really embarrassed. All the other mommies were giving me dirty looks. Finally, 10:30 arrives and the doors open.

The girls hand over their tickets and we go in. They pick the seats and we sit down. We first start with songs and the girls like it. Then the story teller starts reading a book. This looses my girls' interest and they start squirming. I'm thinking this is the longest story ever.

We finally end that story and sing another song. The girls are happy again. Then it's another story, again my girls lose interest. To occupy themselves, the girls start running between me and the wall. Another girl sees this and decides she's going to do it too. Her mom stares at me and gives me dirty looks. Finally after 3 long books and several songs, we move on to the craft. The craft involves a glue stick. So there are tons of kids squished around this table trying to glue down a barn and pig.

I couldn't get out of there fast enough. We will probably go back because the girls enjoyed most of it but I'm not sure about myself.

Visit to OKC

We had an extremely busy week last week. It was week one of me being home with the girls. We spent it in Oklahoma City with my family. Wes had to travel for work so I decided to spend the week with my family.

We had a good week but I was incredibly exhausted. We saw great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and more cousins. The girls loved being with Sydney and Sam. They played in a spray park, they played in the water outside, they played in the sand, and we all sweated in the 100 degree heat!

Before Wes went out of town, we bought a new netbook for me. It's awesome. I downloaded Skype and Picasa and was able to post pictures and web chat with Wes. Two of the mornings, all the kids "called" Wes and they thought it was cool. Now every time I open it up, Lizzie says "Dada, Dada, Dada" thinking she'll see Wes.

I learned that even though you have more help, you are still running crazy after 2 little girls. We also had the dog with us so I was trying to keep track of her. I lost her twice. Fortunately, she is a good dog and stays close to the house.

Grandma and Papa came back with us to babysit while Wes and I went to a wedding. On the way back, Gracie told us that "Nydney at work" and "Am at Work". Those are her names for Sydney and Sam.

Well, now it's time to start week two of being at home. We have a couple of play groups this week and dinner with friends. I'm a little worried but I think I can handle it!

Here's a fun picture of Papa taking the kids for a ride on his tractor. Apparently this is an Oklahoma tradition!

Our Week and Important News

What a week we have had. Monday and Tuesday were normal work/school days for us.

Wednesday was rock n roll day at school and the girls dressed in rocker shirts. Of course I couldn't just buy a couple of t-shirts. I had to get iron ons. The iron ons didn't turn out exactly right so Wes had to cut BORN (for the BORN to Rock shirt) out of fabric and I stitched it on. I made hair clips out of tulle and by the end of the day they only came home with one. Which I figured were pretty good odds. Also, we wanted them to wear their boots but only Gracie would cooperate. That's why Lizzie is wearing the old man socks and shoes.

I know my little girls are angels but the halo effect was because it was very humid the day I took the pictures.Thursday work had a happy hour for me because two and a half weeks ago, I turned in my notice. I am now a stay at home mom! This is something that I have always wanted to do but never thought we'd be in a place to do. But, we decided to be poor and give it a shot. I'm really excited. I can't wait to do fun stuff with the girls! I have been with my company for 9 1/2 years. It was my first job out of grad school.

This is a picture of my best friend at work Stephanie. We have a lot of fun and always had "crafting lunch" where we would create whatever. We were a threesome but Karla (Soap Addict) decided to leave the corporate world in January to start her business. I'm gonna miss you Stephanie!

Friday (today) was my last day of work. Below is the lovely cake that they had for me. I really appreciated all the well wishes. Everyone at work was really sweet and told me they were jealous or that I would never regret the decision. Wes said he was worried because there would be 2 things I would miss dressing up for work and the social interaction. We'll see. Now my choices are flip flops or tennis shoes instead of heels or flats.

I'm looking forward to this next phase of my life and plan on having my girls play with all their multiple friends including Reese and Riley!

Splish, Splash

Today we took the girls to a splash pad in Frisco. It was really nice because I didn't have to put on a bathing suit! We got there mid morning when it opened and it was really nice. There was a breeze and it wasn't too hot. The girls had a blast. It only took a few minutes for Lizzie to warm up and start running around but Gracie was a little more hesitant. Finally, Wes took her through a couple of fountains and she was hooked.
The girls snagged a couple of the other kids toys and were playing in the water. The only issues we had were some dirty looks from some OU fans. Wes was wearing his OSU shirt and the girls were in orange bathing suits!

Playing with other kid's toys

Gracie playing

Playing with another kid's bucket

Gracie liked to sit on the water

Lizzie trying to catch water

Hawaiian Falls

Today, we took the girls with some friends to a water park called Hawaiian Falls. Our church was going, but we went early to beat the heat. The girls did really well. They loved the wave pool and splashing around in the water. We tried some of kiddie slides but the girls were still a little too small for them.

We were a bit worried about Lizzie because of her fear of pools, but she was fine. She could touch the ground and loved the waves crashing against her. Both girls had a great time, but were so exhausted they fell asleep in the car and then took a nice long nap at home.

It was still hot while we were there!

Cooking with the girls

Tonight, we had a first. The girls "helped" me make chocolate chip cookies. We took two step ladders and I started the cookies while Wes did the dishes. The girls stood patiently on their stools and only fussed when they couldn't see what I was doing. They loved watching me stir the ingredients and when I sifted the flour I told them in was snowing. They both said snow and then we talked about the snow storm this past winter.

When the cookies were still baking we turned on the light and looked in the window and Wes counted down with them the last 10 seconds of the first batch. They were so excited about the whole process and loved eating the cookies. We all sat around the table eating our milk and cookies talking.

It was really fun to do with them because they understood what I was doing and what the outcome would be.

On the Road

Over the July 4th holiday, we went on a road trip to Alabama to see Wes's side of the family. It is a 12 to 13 hour drive so we broke it up over 2 days each way. It was an adventure. Wes and I worried for weeks about having the girls trapped in the car. They have been know to scream the whole back from Oklahoma City to Dallas.

Anyway, we loaded up the car with snacks, toys, the dvd, and a couple of videos. It turned out way better than we expected. The girls slept, watched the movies (they watched Up several times), and played with their toys. They seemed to enjoy looking out the windows at all the passing cars.
The trip in Alabama was good too. We enjoyed seeing all the family and swimming in Tutu and Papa's pool. They also fell in love with Cousin Sean. He's 12 and they thought he was wonderful. Gracie would drag him around by the hand everywhere.

The girls also saw fireworks for the first time. We kept them up and sat in a Kroger parking lot to see them We knew it was a good spot to see them because the parking lot was full and the store was empty!

It was a great trip and it made me realize that my babies were growing up. They did so many big girl things.

Big Girl Beds

We put the girls in their big girl beds the day after their birthday party. The beds are antiques that were given to us by Wes's grandma Harris. One of them was the bed I slept on when I first went to visit his family in Alabama. That's when he announced he was getting engaged to me. The beds have always been special to me and I couldn't wait until the girls were big enough to sleep on them.

The girls were very ready for their beds. They have slept great in them for the last two weeks. The only issue we had was when Lizzie fell off the foot of the bed. She ended up with a pretty good shiner. We think she was trying to play with the radio and reached too far.

Night Night, Lizzie

Night Night, Gracie

Our beds

First time to sleep in the beds for Gracie

Lizzie's first time in the bed

In other news, we finally met with a pediatric pulmonologist. He changed Gracie from a nebulizer twice a day to a puffer once a day. Meaning for us, no more 10 minute breathing treatments twice a day, only one puff on an inhaler once a day. Yea! The doctor thinks that it's more of a virual issue so we won't really know the right course of treatment until cold and flu season starts around October.