J is for Jedi!

The girls' Aunt Alaina (who lives with us and goes to a nearby college) came home with a delightful gift for them last night.  She works at Barnes and Noble and found it on their Star Wars table.  They were so excited this morning to get a post-Christmas present!

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time!

We had so much fun this Christmas!  The girls lit up our hearts with their excitement about each part of the season.  We had fun having my niece Hannah stay with us for a few days.  My sister Ruthie, brother-in-law Phil, and their daughter Hannah are missionaries in Thailand, and they were home this year for the birth of my new great niece (their first granddaughter) Ruby Fiona!  My nephew Jeremy (Ruby's dad) lives in Savannah, so I was able to meet up with Ruthie and Phil on their way back home and brought Hannah to stay with us for a while.  The girls loved having Hannah around, and it was a real blessing to Patrick and me as well.  She is such a sweetie, and a joy to be around!  My family is headed back to Thailand tomorrow, and I miss them already!  We spent Christmas Eve Eve having breakfast at my favorite breakfast place in Greenville, Stax Omega, with my niece Taylor and her boyfriend Tim.  The girls ate their weight in scrambled eggs and pancakes!  From there, we headed to my Mom's for a soup and salad lunch with the rest of my family.  It was a really fun day, and I even got to get out and finish up some Christmas shopping while my sweet sisters took care of the girls!  We spent Christmas Eve with Patrick's family and had a fabulous breakfast together, opened presents, and then had a yummy prime rib dinner.  The girls had so much fun!  We headed back home on Christmas Eve night and enjoyed Christmas day home together, just the four of us.  The girls got to finish putting the stars on their advent calendar, listen to Daddy read the Christmas story from the Bible, and eat a delicious breakfast with us.  We got them twin baby dolls.  One has brown hair for Evelyn and one has blonde hair for Naomi!  They also got Leap Frog alphabet fridge magnets, which were a huge hit!  They got cute coin purses from Thailand, a V-Tech laptop from Grammy and Pep-Pep, jeans, lots of books, and some artwork from their aunts and uncles.  They loved unwrapping their gifts, but they loved all of the tickling, hugs and kisses, and excitement of being around our family so much more!  Here are some pictures and a short video from the past couple of weeks and from Christmas day.  

A Loss and A Lesson in Love

In 2008, two days after Christmas, we lost our first baby.  We always remember this little one, but we think of him or her more at Christmas time.  I was about ten weeks pregnant when we realized the baby was not going to make it.  We were home visiting with our families for the holidays.  I had actually started bleeding on Christmas morning, but had called the doctor, and was just waiting and hoping everything was okay.  On the day after Christmas, I was in a movie theater with a few of my nieces and nephews and Patrick was out with his brothers.  After the movie, I went to the bathroom, and knew immediately that there was something wrong.  I called Patrick and my nieces and nephews waited with me in a hotel parking lot for him to come.  I learned later that he had put his hazard lights on and literally ran red lights to get to me.  I called my doctor, and they told me to go ahead and go to the hospital.  We got to the emergency room, and after some blood work and an ultra sound, it was determined that our little one had no heart beat and had actually passed away at around 5 weeks gestation.  We left the hospital and went to Patrick's parents house.  Both of our families were waiting there for us, and Patrick's Mom had packed up all of our bags for us.  I had really just wanted to go home with Patrick as soon as we could.  Our family prayed with us and cried with us, and we were on our way.  We got home around midnight, and I actually miscarried the baby the following evening.  We will always love that little soul that God blessed us with that year.  We would have carried that child for 1 week or 10, we would have cared for him or her for their whole life.  We know that God knows best, and we learned through the experience of losing a child, to depend on God more, and to love each other more deeply.  As we watch our two little girls experiencing the Christmas season this year, our hearts are filled with thankfulness and awe, for we know that each moment we are given to hold them is a treasure and a wonderful gift from our Heavenly Father.

Playing and Cleaning, Cleaning and Playing

Last week I was under the weather, and had to figure out how to keep the little ladies entertained/contained while trying to take it easy.  One thing I did was to close the kitchen door and put a gate at the other entry way and let them play in the kitchen while I did dishes or just sat in a chair and tried to rest.  They loved the change of scenery, and the kitchen was actually pretty easy to baby-proof.  As long as they weren't wearing socks, they got along really well on the linoleum, and I think they enjoyed having a little more freedom to roam.  What this taught me was that now that the girls are more steady on their feet, I can actually just take them from room to room and get things done around the house.  I don't just have to use their nap times to try and clean like a mad woman anymore!!  Today, they hung out in our bedroom while I cleaned our bathroom (I semi-baby proofed the bedroom first -- and then had to do it for real when I found Naomi teething on a wire hanger -- whoops!).  This was such a relief for me, and I have noticed that they are really able to get their energy out and satisfy some of that wonderful 14 month old curiosity about the world around them when they are a little freer to roam.  I call it their "free range chicken time"!  I think with having two at once, Patrick and I are not always jumping the gun to see the girls into their next stages of development and independence.  It feels safer and more manageable sometimes to get into a routine and just stay there.  I am learning though, that it is really important for us to step out there with the girls and to take risks.  They catch on really quickly, and they need us to foster their growth even if it all seems to be happening too fast for our comfort!  I have found such joy in having my girls "follow" me around while I try and take care of our home. Here are a couple of pictures from our photo shoot during Thanksgiving weekend (courtesy of TimAlina Photography) - I will be posting more later this week!

  

Gobble Gobble!

Patrick and I hosted Thanksgiving at our home for the first time this year.  With Patrick's work schedule being pretty crazy, we decided it would not really work for us to travel for the holiday this year, so Patrick's family decided to come to us!  I was a little sad about not being with my family, but the girls and I were able to take a quick trip to visit with my family the week before Thanksgiving, and I was very thankful to have had that time with them.  

We had a very busy and fun weekend with our family.  They came on Thursday afternoon and left last night.  

We fried a turkey, and our lives were changed forever - So delicious!

Naomi and Evelyn sure enjoyed hanging out with their aunts and uncles and of course their Grammy and Pep-Pep this weekend!

I should have added something for perspective here, but these were the girls plates for the big meal.  They were actually on salad plates, and looked so adorable next to all the adult plates.  They tried everything, but I think it may have been a few too many new things all at one time.  Evelyn enjoyed eating off her Aunt Amanda's fork more than she did her own spoon, and Naomi mostly spit everything out when I'd get a bite in her mouth.  She did have a fun time making eyes across the table at her Pep-Pep!

I bought the girls these turkey headbands for their first Thanksgiving last year.  I was so excited that they still fit this year.  We had to be pretty creative to keep their little hands busy so they wouldn't pull the headbands off before we could snap a picture!

The girls were so helpful to their Daddy in doing up the dinner dishes!!

Some other things we enjoyed this weekend were going out for a birthday lunch for Patrick's Mom, going shopping at the mall on black Friday, and doing a family photo shoot on Saturday afternoon at Runnymede Plantation.  We are pooped to say the least, but are so thankful that our family came to us for this special weekend!

A Day in the Life

I've noticed on some of the blogs that I read that people are posting their daily schedules.  I thought it would be fun to post ours, and I know it will be fun to go back and read this some day, so, here goes!


6:30 a.m.  Get up, shower, and partially get myself ready.
7:00 a.m.  Patrick gets up to get ready for work.
7:30 a.m.  Let dog out, feed pets, heat up bottles (the girls have been up for a while at this point usually talking and playing in their cribs - if they're not so happy, I go in and change diapers and put them back in their cribs with books or other toys until I am ready with their bottles).  Patrick goes in and says good morning to the ladies and then heads out to work.
8:00 a.m.  Get girls up, change diapers, and give them their bottles - after the bottles, we play in their room for a bit, or on tired mommy mornings, I lay on the floor of their room with one eye open watching them play until I can motivate myself to get up and get their breakfast ready!
8:30 a.m.  Feed the girls breakfast which consists of oatmeal mixed with fruit and a half a jar of pureed squash and lots of puffs!  I usually try and eat while feeding them.
9:00 a.m.  I do ABC or animal sound flashcards with the girls and then I move their highchairs to the living room to watch Sesame Street or Eebee's Adventures.  At this point I usually eat if I wasn't able to while feeding them and unload the dishwasher.  
9:45 a.m.  We head back to the nursery and I get the girls changed and dressed and they play while I stock up the changing table, change crib sheets, or put away their laundry.
10:30 a.m.  Morning Nap!  I usually finish getting ready at this point and then work on laundry or dishes.  Sometimes I am lucky at this point and am able to talk to my BFF who lives in Seattle while she's on her way to work.  Sometimes I have to take a shower at this point because I didn't get up early enough or the girls woke up earlier than normal, it just depends on the day.
12:00 p.m.  I get the babies up from their nap if they haven't woken on their own yet and give them their bottles.  I change their diapers and take them to the kitchen for lunch which is usually a PB&J, a jar of pureed peas, cut up cheese, yogurt, and puffs or baby mum mums.  Sometimes I get to talk on the phone to my BFF who is in my same time zone while I feed the girls lunch and she is on her lunch break from work!
1:30 p.m.  I put the girls in their stroller and go for a walk and then to our neighborhood playground to let them swing in the baby swings - they love this, and it is a good point in the day for me to get out and get some fresh air!
2:30 p.m.  Afternoon Nap!  I usually eat lunch and check email/facebook at this point or talk on the phone with my Mom or sister - I don't do as much housework at this point just because the evening is long and there is a lot to do with getting dinner, baths, and bedtime.  I do usually make sure the dishes are squared away and do any meal preparation that I can.
4:00 - 4:30 p.m.  I get the girls up if they haven't gotten up on their own and give them bottles and then we play in their room for a bit.  
5:00 p.m.  I give the girls dinner (pasta or soup or some of our leftovers, green beans and fruit and maybe a pumpkin muffin or teething cookie).  Usually Patrick comes home halfway through the girls' dinner.
6:15 p.m.  Patrick plays with the girls while I clean up from their dinner and sometimes get our dinner started.
7:00 p.m.  Bath Time!  Sometimes I do the baths and sometimes Patrick does them. Either way, it takes both of us to get the job done.
7:30 p.m.  The girls get their last bottle and we brush their teeth and say goodnight!
8:00 p.m.  The girls are down and we either start dinner or finish what I got started earlier in the evening.  
8:30 p.m.  We eat dinner and usually watch something on Hulu or Netflix - right now, we're completely obsessed with Mad Men!
9:30 - 11:00 p.m.  We clean up from dinner and either continue watching TV or we do our own thing until we go to bed.


So, there you have it!  This is of course a normal day where I don't have any errands to run and Patrick doesn't have to work late.  We are currently transitioning from bottles to sippy cups (NOT an easy task!), so eventually the girls will go straight from waking up to their highchairs with their cups of milk.  It's amazing how much the schedule changes based on the girls development!  Hopefully I can do this more often to compare how far we've come.  

Sickity Sick Sick

Patrick and I both had a 48 hour stomach flu this week...sickity.  The girls were due for re-check for their ears tomorrow morning, but we had to go in today because Evelyn had a fever last night.  She has another ear infection, and Naomi has fluid in her one ear, but it's not infected...sick sick!  We will get through this, right?!  Oh, and this all has happened on an election week which is one of the worst times for Patrick to miss work.  Looking forward to a long weekend relaxing with my husband and babies!