Easter Weekend

We had a very busy and exciting Easter weekend.

Friday night, we colored a bunch of eggs with the kids. They loved it and had a great time. Sadly, I didn't think to take any pictures. The kids did a great job and we only cracked a few of the eggs.

Parson, my oldest baby, was baptized on Saturday. It was wonderful. He is such a good boy and I am so very proud of him.


After, we had a big family dinner.

After that, we had a huge egg hunt. We usually do it outside, but the weather here hasn't been that great, so we did it inside. It turned out really well. The kids loved it!


It was funny to watch my girls. Abbie caught on right away to the whole "hunt" idea and was picking things up right and left. She was getting so upset that the eggs were falling out of her bucket because it was too full.


Ellie, on the other hand, wanted to open each and every egg that she picked up. It took some coaxing to get her to keep going.


And as soon as it was over, she plopped herself down right in the middle of the floor and enjoyed the contents of many eggs.


We had a wonderful day on Easter sunday, as well. The Easter bunny came and brought the kids some great stuff. Everyone was happy.:)

Hope yours was great as well!

Miserable!! (Graphic Photo Warning)

I hate cold sores. It's the worst when small kids are so sick and sad and you can't do a darned thing for them. It's such a horrible, helpless feeling. Luckily the fever has let up, unfortunately my baby girl still looks like this...

Ugly, nasty, mean, miserable cold sore. What'd she ever do to you?
Go away, go away, don't come back another day!!

My Babies Are Growing Up! (sniff, sniff)

My girls are getting so big, it's crazy! They talk constantly!! Every night I am rushed by two little cuties yelling "Pooprush, pooprush!" What, you don't know what that means? Well, I'll give you a hint, they are toting their toothbrushes when they do this. Heehee. Cracks me up. They also sing a lot these days. They sing "A B C D E B G, a time a sing with me." And they have discovered Barney and like to belt out his song as well, "I love you, I love me!" Repeated about 30 times. They also love Sesame Street, Dora and Diego, of course.
I am debating starting them in preschool. I know they would LOVE it. They pick up on things so quickly. Every day now, after my boys go to school, the girls put their shoes and coats on and tell me, "Bye mom! I go a school!" I didn't do any preschool with Parson and I only did a year with Josh. I already know which preschool I would use and I know it's WONDERFUL! Do any of you put your kids in preschool for 2 years?

Thanks for all of your questions on my last post! I am working on getting them answered!

Oh, the things I have learned...

I had a very eventful day on Friday. Ok...lets cut eventful and just say BAD! (Someone needs to teach me how to do that strike through word thingy).

Anyway, through it all, I learned a few things. I have decided to share with you what I learned.

I learned that if you get a message in your inbox on Facebook from a friend and you open it, it might really be a blast of viruses waiting to devour your computer.
I also learned that it is awesome to have a husband who knows enough about computers to remove more than 30 viruses and have my laptop up and running again by Saturday night. (Thanks babe!)

I learned that it is possible to flood your entire kitchen floor using only the water dispenser on the fridge and a small plastic cup.

I learned that 2 eggs can actually make quite a HUGE mess on the kitchen floor. And although it was only two eggs, I thank my lucky stars there weren't more to be found.

I learned that a very small tube of sunscreen found in the diaper bag can make quite a mess as well.

I learned that all of these previously mentioned messes can be made in a very short amount of time. I think you can move especially fast when you have an accomplice.

I learned that it is possible to close the van door on your pinky finger and have it completely smashed flat, without actually breaking the bone. I also learned that the doctor will put a splint on it for weeks anyway. (That was Parson, if you're wondering.)

I learned that you cannot leave your dvd player going and your car lights on for 5-7 minutes while you run in the house without having a dead battery. I also learned that following the colors on the battery and jumper cables is not always the best choice when hooking them up. You might need to take a closer look than just the colors.

That was my Friday's events in chronological order.

I learned a few things about my girls as well. I learned that Abbie is the instigator. I learned that in the phrase "fight or flight," Abbie is definitely my fighter and Ellie is my flighter. When in trouble, Ellie wants to do what I tell her to and get the heck out of there. Abbie will just sit and glare at me very stubbornly, with a look that says, "So, what you gonna do about it?"

Both of my girls have the two year old tantrums mastered as well. Joy. I have yet to learn how to deal/react to those in a way that makes them stop. But I am still learning. One day at a time, right?

Wordful Wednesday

Who gave my babies permission to grow up?

And get into my lip gloss and bras?!!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone! Here are some of my favorite 2008 Halloween pictures thus far.

Giant candy corn in California Adventure

This is made out of legos! At Legoland, of course!

Ellie with vampire teeth

Scary me and my little butterflies

Ready for the party!

Train ride with the butterflies (they really were happy!)

Pirate Parson

Cowboy Josh

All the cousins at Grandmas big annual Halloween party, complete with carnival games, a train ride, awesome food, and of course, a Frankenstein pinata!!

We have been to some great places and parties this year and had some great fun!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Photo Story Friday

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Yesterday, I went with my sister to try to get some good fall pictures of her family and my kids. We drove out to where she had seen some awesome fall colors a few days previously.
We started our little photo shoot and were able to get some cute shots. The ones she took of her kids were absolutely gorgeous! My kids weren't cooperating so much. I had been on the run most of the day and had some very tired little girls!

Here are a few of the shots I took of my kids:Parson with a cheeser!

Joshua with a robot smile!

I actually got a few half-smiles out of Ellie!

Abbie wanted no part in any of this!

Can you tell I had very little cooperation? We had potential to get some really good ones, but nobody wanted to participate! That is usually the way it goes for me. I really need to learn to use good software so I can just combine the good faces to the good poses. Especially in the group/family pics. That would be very helpful!
Anyway, back to the story. After about 45 minutes or so of taking all kinds of pictures, my niece starts screaming. Not even 10 seconds later Joshua starts screaming. Only seconds later I see a bee on my sisters arm and realize we are under attack! Everyone starts running back towards the cars, swatting at bees as we go. In the minute it took us to get back by our cars, we had 8 stings! And a lot of hysterical kids! For my family the casualties were Joshua and Ellie. Joshua had been stung almost right between his eyebrows. Ellie had two, one on her eyebrow and one on the side of her face. It was crazy! They seriously came out of nowhere and just attacked us!
This morning Joshua got out of bed and his face was all swollen up and he was nauseous.

He came to me and said, "Mom, I am very sad." I asked him why and he told me, "because I just looked in the mirror and I don't look like me anymore."
I had no idea he was allergic to bees, or that a reaction would happen a day later. After a dose of benadryl and a trip to the doctor, I am now equipped with an epipen. And I hope with all my heart I never have to use it!

Wordful Wednesday

These are some of my favorite "Ellie" pictures from this summer. On this particular day we had just had lunch and headed to the park. Oh how we loved those lazy days!
Notice the necklace and bracelet! Ellie is the accessory girl, you know.

More Wordful Wednesday at

Wordful Wednesday

Wordful Wednesday is brought to you by Angie at 7ClownCircus:




This is what can happen if you let your 2 year old jump on the trampoline with your 7 year old.

And trust me, you do NOT want this to happen!

(As a sidenote, because I know you're all wondering, I was standing about 4 feet away from her when this happened. There was no collision whatsoever. She got bounced, her legs buckled, and she went down. That's all it took.)

Looking Back.....4

Carissa was nice enough to remind me that I haven't finished my twin pregnancy story, so here it is.

A peek into my journal...continued.

31 weeks finally came! We were getting closer! My doctor came in early that morning to talk to me, as she did every morning. At this time, she informed me that she was heading out of town in a few days and wouldn't be around on our planned delivery date. We discussed all of our options. 1-We could deliver a few days earlier than planned. 2-We could deliver a few days later than planned. 3-We could have another doctor do the delivery on our original planned date. We made the decision to deliver the night before she was leaving out of town, which was Monday, May 22, 2006. This put our delivery at gestational age 31 weeks 4 days.

When Monday, May 22 finally came, I was so excited! Mixed with nervousness! I was so glad that this pregnancy was finally going to be over and that I would be able to go home with my family. I was so excited to meet my sweet little girls and be able to hold them in my arms and know that they were both healthy.

I was so nervous about having a c-section. In addition there was so much uncertainty as to whether or not both of my girls would be healthy and ok.

Our delivery was scheduled for that evening and it was a very long day waiting.

This was right before surgery.

For me, the surgery went very quickly. I didn't feel any pain. A few minutes into surgery, I was told that baby A was coming out. Then the assisting doctor held her up so I could see her for about 2 seconds, before whisking her away to the adjacent room where several NICU doctors and nurses were waiting. Abbie was born at 6:46 PM. Exactly one minute later, they held up baby B in the exact routine as they had done with Abbie. Ellie was born at 6:47 PM.

The window shades were open, and I could see my girls being worked on in the next room as my surgery was being completed. We were told that they were both doing very well for 31 weekers. We were also given their weights, Abbie weighed 3 lbs 1 oz and Ellie weighed 3 lbs 14 oz. It wasn't until 2 days later that we found out we had been misinformed. Abbie had actually weighed in at 3 lbs 10 oz which was quite a difference. This was good news to us.

An hour or two later, they wheeled my hospital bed into the NICU so that I could see my sweet little girls. I just kept saying "They are so small! I can't believe how little they are." They had a bunch of wires attached to their stomachs and chests. they also had IV's and were on ventilators. It was very hard to see them like this. I was so glad that they were getting a good start. Throughout my pregnancy, I was told by doctors that by 32 weeks, we might not have 2 live babies. Yet here they were. They were very, very small. But I knew that they were in good hands and that they were going to have a fighting chance to live. I was overjoyed. And exhausted. And proud of myself for making it through this amazing day without crying!

This is a different angle to my famous "twin heads" picture.
This was the very first time they put the girls in together.

The girls were only on their ventilators for a couple of hours and the oxygen a day or two. The main reasons they needed their NICU stay was to learn to eat and obviously to grow. It was very difficult to come home without them. At the same time, I knew they were much too small to come home. It was also difficult juggling my recovery, my 2 older kids, and twice a day visits to the hospital. It was definitely a roller coaster ride of emotions. Somehow we managed it all.

This was the 1st time I got to hold them together! I was thrilled!

The girls were in the NICU for 32 days and they came home together. Finally, our family was all together!:)

Fun Stories

I have noticed lately that Parson asks Joshua which girl is doing something. He'll say "Josh, which girl is that?" or "who is this one?" So I was asking them, "Parson, you can't tell who is who?" And he said he couldn't. So I asked Josh how he could tell them apart and he told me, (very matter of factly) "Because their faces don't look the same. They look different."
Here is a recent picture of them. What do you think?
I was thinking about another funny story today, so I thought I would share. It was probably a year ago. We were picking up my sister in our minivan to go somewhere with us. My boys sit in the back seat of the van on each side. My sister was going to have to squeeze in between them and sit in the middle. Joshua sits on the passenger side, the side that my sister was entering. It is a tight squeeze, as you can imagine, getting in. My sister starts backing herself into her seat.
Now imagine if you will Joshua sitting in his chair watching her backing herself past him. He says, "Whoa! You've got a big fat butt!!" And of course, my sister says, "Joshua that isn't very nice! You shouldn't say stuff like that. You really think I've got a big butt?" And Josh says, "yes." My sister replied in a quick, sassy voice, "Well, I think you're annoying sometimes."
Hehe, I still laugh when I think of this story. Maybe you have to actually hear my sister's response to find it funny?
Oh well...here's another pic, just for fun!:)

Poop. Lots of Poop.

If you didn't like reading that title, you probably shouldn't read this post. (Hey, don't say I didn't warn you!)

So I've had a pretty rotten day. And just when I think to my self how crappy things have been...they get worse!

Imagine, if you will, two little cuties going down to nap. Sounds great, right? They were even asking for "night night," even better. A few nice quiet hours go by. And then they start making noise. Cheerful noise, so it's ok.

I happen to be on the phone at the time, so I send Parson in to get the girls out of their beds. Only seconds later, he returns telling me that one of the girls doesn't have any pants or diaper on. "She only has a shirt!" he tells me.

As he's walking away, I notice the trail of poop footprints from the bottom of one of Parson's shoes. Are you kidding me?!

As it turns out, neither girl had a diaper on. And apparently both had decided to throw around their poop. A nice little poop party. How about that. And now it's not only in their room, it's all down the hall and living room, too. UGH! And I am short on sanitizing cleaning supplies and have to borrow from the neighbor. Wonderful. Dis.Gus.Ting.

Don't worry, it's all cleaned up now.

One day at a time, I tell myself. Here's hoping for a poop-free tomorrow!

Ewrney & Elmooo!

Well, it's official. My girls LOVE Ernie and Elmo! They actually want to watch tv once in a while. They get so excited! Until now, they didn't care about watching anything. My boys watched the Baby Einsteins early on.
I know, I know, it's bad for kids to watch tv. But that may be the only 30 minute chance in my whole day that I have to:
have a shower (without little screamers at my door)
make dinner (without little screamers hanging on my legs)
blog (without little screamers on my lap)
nap (with or without happy little Sesame Street watchers on my lap)
work on my on-going home improvement project (without little helpers)
or any number of other things I could possibly have to do.
So thank you Sesame Street! We love Ewrney and Elmooo!

(This post has been brought to you by the number of the day and the letter of the day!)