So...

I heard my sisters got their very own post together the other day.

That's ok. Because today it's all about {me}! 

I might not have been the first of us twins to smile, but I was the first to {reach out} and grab my toys! 

And ya wanna know my new {trick}? 

I don't just grab and swat at them now, I can {wriggle} them right off their rings and hold them all on my own! 

See...?

Yeah, I guess it surprised me a little too!

But it does makes me {smile}.

And I'm pretty sure it makes my mama and daddy smile too!

new friends and old

there's one thing for sure: having twins has not slowed us down. in fact, I think we've sped up a little more because I'm not carrying 35lbs of extra weight. now it's just 28lb of baby + carriers. ok. so maybe I'm carrying the same amount of weight, but at least I can breathe and{put them down} now!

we love getting together with Elijah Brooks and his mama (my childhood friend) Erin. To say Addie loves EB is an understatement!

You wouldn't know that here!

but everything seems to be a tad like this for Addie right now...

the babies decided that they would 1.) not take a bottle and 2) want to be held in the ridiculous heat!

But that's ok. Addie thoroughly enjoyed her yogurt & apparently didn't mind me taking her picture?

My sweet friend Julie let us come visit her a few weeks ago. Savannah is about to turn 4. She and Addie had fun playing together!  Savannah is a big fan of books and just sat down and started reading; and of course, Addie couldn't resist being interested!

They had fun playing with letters too!

Savannah's little brother was born Saturday at 37+ weeks, a bit unexpected. He was doing fine until they found a tear in his lung. I don't know many details except that he's been moved to another hospital, I'm assuming to spend some time in the NICU. They believe he will be ok, but I cannot imagine the fear this sweet family is feeling, not to mention that Julie won't be able to visit him until she's discharged in the next few days!  Please pray for this precious family!

3 Month Portraits with DiAnna

We had our 3 month portrait session with DiAnna last weekend. I decided I was not going to stress out about what we could get or not get. We'd get whatever we got!

Well, the little girls let her get a few of them before they decided it was nap time. I think this has to be in my top 5 favorite pictures of these little girls so far!

She also got some sweet ones of them separately.

But I have to admit that I think these are the most special to me right now. THIS is what we see 90% of the time with our little 2 year old. Smiles. Silliness. Sharing her thoughts. Sweet interactions. All around happiness. The first one in the trio below IS Addie, and I love that! 

She even went out with DiAnna to her beautiful backyard where she got to climb on some steps. That middle one is our little angel too!

Thank you, DiAnna, for the beautiful pictures of our girls. She even managed to get one of the five of us...which, let me tell you, was a complete and total miracle! Make sure to visit her blog here!

All Good Things...

...must come to an {end}.

Thankfully it doesn't take long to recover, especially when you have a {hand} to hold.

{sigh}

Day 2 of MMO

not a {tear} was shed this morning

i even managed to grab a few {pictures} without a tantruming 2 year old

no smiles. just squints from the sun and blank stares.

until she realized {what i was doing}

i'll take what i can get :)

wordless wednesday: sisters

First Day

Addie's first day of MMO is today. We started it off with a bang by going to get her stitches out. She was amazing! Not a single tear! Oh how I love our Dr. B!

Not a single tear until we drove up to MMO. Then they started. All I wanted was one decent picture with her cute new dress and backpack.

And this is all I got!

I tried to get her to let me take a picture of her spiders (stitches) in her little spider bag, but that wasn't happening either!

I had to carry her in.

Thankfully we saw her teachers from last year, and she went straight to them. The sweet ladies in the office kept the babies with them, so I could take Addie upstairs. Addie was crying, but her new teacher just took her in her arms; and as I was walking out, I heard her telling them all about her spider stitches! She will have a good day!

I'm ok if 95% of her pictures from 24-29 months are of her screaming. It doesn't matter who's behind the camera: me, her daddy, Ms. DiAnna, anyone...it's pretty much a wash. I'm just not so sure how she'll feel about it 20 years from now!

This crazy picture loving mama isn't about to stop taking pictures of her though!

Now...to reorganize myself after 4 months of being all over the place, right after I stop at Chick-fil-a for a chicken biscuit & feed the little girls!

you know it's time to move

when...

{everyone who crawls under your house tells you something different}

{people chuckle and shake their head when they emerge from your crawlspace}

{you supposedly have mold underneath your house}

{there is water dripping from your floor joists in your crawlspace}

 {d.r.i.p.p.i.n.g.}

{the center of your house is sinking because the chimney from the original wood burning stove is pulling it down}

{the guy who eats, breathes and smokes ductwork refuses to even touch your ductwork unless you agree to move it to your attic}

{it is strongly suggested that you move your AC unit to the attic}

{you've told the AC guys to wrap your ductwork no less than 3 times and they just can't seem to grasp the concept. now they won't call you back}

{your 4 ton AC unit should be freezing you out but isn't cooling your house because 1.) it's cooling your crawl space to a low 65 degrees, 2.) your air return is too small, 3.) your ductwork needs new insulation (your AC company finally admits), and 4.) you still need to add insulation to your attic but have to wait until the rest of your house gets rearranged and fixed before doing that!}

{parts of your plaster kitchen ceiling fall}

{a contractor walks in and immediately pulls pieces of your plaster ceiling down in the hall because it will fall soon}

{one eye on your stove doesn't work}

{your oven cooks the front of your dishes faster than the back}

{there's a leak under your dishwasher that someone gave up repairing and just covered it back up}

{you can't get your outside faucet to shut off so it constantly drips water}

{your two year old tells everyone who enters your house how dangerous it is that your kitchen ceiling fell...}

but we're not moving

we're staying right here

why?

{excellent interest rate}

{reasonable mortgage payment}

{enough space for us to live but...}

{not enough space to keep us from acquiring too much clutter}

and in addition to having parts of our house

{torn apart}

{jacked back up}

{braced}

{and redone...}

we hope to get

a new {kitchen floor}

new {laundry} area

new {washer/dryer}

and a {pantry}!

James 1: 2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

you know your 2 year old wants attention when she...

...fake {sneezes} repeatedly & has actually gotten pretty good at it.

...lays on the babies' play mat & plays w/ the dangling toys

...gets on a swing at a birthday party & yells "look at me, I'm swinging, look at me" while looking around at other mommies & continues to do so while ignoring your attempts to validate her...because she's more concerned about everyone else seeing her than you!

...fake cries while one of the babies is crying & it sounds almost identical "waaaah waaaah waaaah"

...runs to the potty, goes on her own & then yells for our friend: "Mr. Chad, I went teetee! Mr. Chad, come see!" (thankfully Mr. Chad also has a potty training two year old & none of this phases him!)

...walks up and takes a swing at a baby with her foot (& misses), then bops a baby on the head with her lovie. ...& then promptly kisses the baby on the head?

...after a firm talking, hits the baby again. & when asked why replies with, "because I need a spanking." (Well that's affective now isn't it?)

...is told: "if you choose to put that ball in your mouth again, I will take it away from you." Five minutes later, announces "Mommy, I put it in my mouth!!!" "I guess that means I have to take it away from you..." & she willingly surrenders the ball? (This type of incident has happened on several occasions...like jumping on the big chair in the living room or putting a bead in her mouth).

...demands her paci in the car and when she doesn't get it, pitches one major {fit}, requiring me to pull over twice to threaten her with her life and prevent her from flailing her head into the sides of her car seat (i kid you not)! all of a sudden its quiet and AP starts to cry. We look back to discover Addie has taken Anne Perry's paci & put it in her own mouth with the paci clip dangling. You can imagine the fit that proceeded from there.

I can promise you that Addie does in fact get lots of attention even if she doesn't want anyone to know that! I'm slowly coming to grips with the fact that I can't meet everyone's immediate needs 24/7 though, but that they will eventually be met! Thankfully, I have the best husband in the world {not bragging, promise}, but we will forever be outnumbered. So everyday, I work to make sure I have some one-on-one time with each of our girls, no matter how minuscule it might seem at the time. Sometimes I'm successful, other times not so much. I'm pretty sure our girls are getting ample attention from Mommy and Daddy though...at least that's what I tell myself!

Jesus loves me this I know. 

For the Bible tells me so. 

Little ones to Him be long. 

They are weak but He is strong!

Flashback Friday

...to Wednesday's stitches.

 otherwise known as her {spider} but with only 6 legs!

Please Read

I know you've heard me talk about the our friends the Lewis', but I'm not sure I've shared with you all that their family means to us. Let's just say...it's a lot.

They are such an amazing example of faith, perseverance, and hope. Their strength comes solely from our God; and no matter what they face, they consistently shout praises to our awesome God!

They are in the process of adopting a little boy from Ethiopia. They received their referral about two weeks ago, after many months of waiting. They finally had, in their hands, a picture of what I know must have been the most beautiful little boy! A mere 6 weeks old, barely over 5 pounds, hand picked for their family.

But God had other plans for little Judah, to take him home even before he could meet his forever family. I don't even attempt to understand the why here. I can't even fathom the heartache their family is experiencing right now.

But instead of being angry or depressed, instead of just giving up or giving in, their family is only more determine to ensure Judah did not die in vain. In everything this family does, they seek to glorify God's name; and this is no exception.

Instead of me trying to share with you something that I cannot adequately put into words, I'm asking that you please redirect to their blog and read these two posts:

here

and

here

And then I'm asking that you do something about it! Because we must.

dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 john 3:18

Lilo & ...

...Stitch.

I never saw this D1sney movie; but today, we experienced our first

{stitch}

make that three {stitches}

No, not a {stitch} in the side. Not a {stitch} in fabric. Not a knitting, crochet, or appliqué {stitch}. Not the least bit of anything. 

In fact, it was a significant bit of something!

Six (yes 6) contractors had just left our house all discussing the problems and potential solutions. Flooring. Air conditioning movement. Ductwork. 

Both babies decided it would be best if they woke up and I held them both while I discussed the thousands of dollars that we would eventually be spending on our house. It didn't help that Addie was all snotty either!

Everyone left. It was time to feed the girls. Some water for me. A snack for Addie. A potty break for me.

As I was attempting to obtain a little peace and quiet not to mention privacy (does that exist with a 2 year old?), Addie bounced in and started playing with things on our counter. She grabbed a glass (not a cup, a glass) and proceeded to show me that she could drink out of it. I asked her to put it back on the counter. Instead, she threw chunked dropped it in the sink. 

I admit it. I let a word fly. I was processing the house issues. I just wanted to potty. And I didn't want to clean up a mess.

And then she screamed, and I looked down at her finger, which was 

pouring

out

blood. 

Mommy emergency mode kicks in. I grabbed toilet paper and grabbed her finger. I managed to pull myself (clothes) together with one hand. 

I released the pressure a tad to look at her finger only to find a huge gash underneath...

pouring

out

blood. 

First aid kit under the counter. Safety release to get to it. Gauze pad. Rip open with teeth.

Pressure.

Grab finger bandaids (the ones with little fingers on them that can wrap around knuckles and such). Grab more gauze. 

Drag screaming 2 year old around house to find lovie and paci. 

AP crying in the bed because she's hungry. AK squirming on the floor because she's getting hungry. 

Bleeding won't stop. Gauze soaked through. More pressure. How much can you do with one hand?

New gauze pad. More pressure. Finger band aid wrapped tightly around gash on top of gauze. Wrapped tightly right below gash.

Doctor's office on the phone. Press 1 for emergency. Tell them what happened. Hold. Hold. Hold. Hold. Hold. HOLD. Finally the nurse comes back. Bring her in.

Babies in car seats. Pacis. Lovies. Cell phone. Out the door.

Call Paul on the way. He's in training near our doctor's office, but the problem is he can't leave the training! I ask him to come during their lunch. He meets us there. 

Nurse can't even get band aid off! Way to go mom! (Really...she was impressed!)

Band aid off. Once again...

pouring

out

blood.

New gauze. Mom keep putting pressure on it. 

Dr. Blakney, Addie's hero, comes in. You see, anytime anything is broken, hurt or pretend hurt; it has to go to Dr. Bwakney to get bettew. She applied pressure right below the wound to try to look at it. 

Do you know how hard it is to get a 2 year old to 1.) understand why you're doing something 2.) why it hurts and 3.) to move a very small portion of their finger while extreme pressure is being applied to another portion? We told her to push Dr. B's finger away. To point. To wiggle it. To make Dr. B's finger go away. To push against the paper (gauze). Why all that fuss to get her to move it? To see if she had cut through tendons. Yes. Tendons people. That's how deep this cut was! And that would mean a visit to the OR, not the pediatricians office!

The good news: thankfully she accidentally moved it. The bad news: 3 stitches needed. The worst news: they would have to do a digit block to numb it. That meant a series of small shots in the base of her finger before they could stitch it.

Dr. B had 3 patients left to see, and she didn't want to be rushed with Addie. She's the most amazing doctor. So it was back to putting pressure on that finger. Do you know how cramped your finger gets after holding it pressed in one place for almost an hour? Thankfully Paul took over half way through while I quickly fed the babies. AP decided it would be the perfect time to completely blow out the back of her diaper up her back. Seriously. Yuck!

Dr. B comes back in and Daddy takes the little girls out. Addie sat in my lap facing me with her arm stretched out on the table. Dr. B got down on her level and told her she would always tell her the truth, and that this would sting and not feel good. Addie listened with her big eyes wide watching Dr. B intently. After the fact, Addie said it stemmed (instead of stinged...i know that's not a word but you know what i mean).

I thought the worst part for all of us would be the lidocaine shots in the base of her finger. It was hard to watch, but she really did pretty well. She cried something serious but didn't fight me. 

And then midway through she says it...

No, no Dr. Bwakney, don't do that. Please stop. 

Oh. My. Word. Rip. My. Heart. Out!

Finally blocked...we hope.

So we settled in to wait for it to take affect.

But once again, it's not easy to determine if a 2 year old is mad that you're putting extreme pressure on her finger or if she's in pain. We determined she could still feel it though, so more shots. Good grief. She's like me in that way...it takes a serious amount of pain or numbing meds to put a dent in anything for me! Oh the tears!

And the stitching begin. Dr. B said there and I was like you're done? Not so lucky. She'd only put one in. It got worse from there. Addie was screaming and had her knees in my stomach. Her finger was bleeding so badly that Dr. B could hardly see it. There was blood everywhere. The nurse would wipe it, Dr. B would jab that hook in they use for sutures, and it would pour out more blood. Addie was furious that her arm and fingers were being held down. I was fighting back tears because I just felt awful for her! And although I never told them, I was weak as all get out because I was starving!

She's finally done. It's still bleeding, but they determine it's where they sutured it. It finally stops bleeding, over 2 hours after it's happened. 

And Addie looks up at Dr. B and says...

Thank you for helping me Dr. Bwakney. Thank you for making my finger better.

She continues to settle down as they clean up and bandage it up. And she looks up at me again and says...

 

That's Dr. Bwakney, she's my fwiend. 

Amazing that Dr. B can keep a friend even after she's given her no less than 10 sticks that sting like crazy and 3 stitches. I sure to love this little girl!

She hops out of my lap. Gives Dr. B a hug. Tells her thank you again and to have a good day! and bounces down the hall like she hasn't skipped a beat!

As I was putting her in the car, she says:

I'm sorry I cut my finger Mommy!

Me too Little Bit. Me too!

And we stopped for lunch. Came home and I fed the babies. My mom came to watch the little girls when they woke up from their nap. And Addie and I took a 2+ hour nap.

And right now she's dancing around the living room like a butterfly!

I just thought I knew what exhaustion was!

Tonight, I will be cleaning out all glass glasses from our cabinet and placing them on the top shelf until we no longer have any 2 year old or younger little girls in this house!

*disclaimer: i did not take any of these pictures until after we returned home! i maybe crazy about blogging, but i'm not a crazy blogger!

**disclaimer 2: first picture courtesy of Disney

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways

Psalm 91:11

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

its {not} my party but I'll cry if I want to...

{another post to come about what happened today!}

Nope, You Sure Can't...

accuse me

of being the {serious one}

or {crying more}

or being the {bad twin}!

Check out my face here.

It doesn't get more expressive, happy, and laid back than that!

{love}

I Heart Faces: {Got to Wear Shades}

It's been way too long since I've entered a picture at I ♥ Faces. I'm so ready to take another photography class just to challenge me, but I don't see that happening in the near future! So I'm going to work harder on entering photographs in the I ♥ Faces weekly challenge and others. At least that will get me taking pictures and thinking about things again! It's amazing what being pregnant with twins will do to your brain!

This week on I ♥ Faces, the theme is {Got to Wear Shades}. It is no secret that Addie loves her some sunglasses. This was one of the first pictures I took almost a month after my surgery last October. Addie was headed out on a walk with her Nana. I love the sunglasses, but I really love her pouty lip sticking out! She was (and still is) such a little trooper! Love that little girl!

Make sure to head on over to the I ♥ Faces site and check out all the other beautiful pictures!