Obviously I suck at blogging! I haven't updated since last February. Granted, I have been a little busy raising twins...but no excuse! The boys are now two and we had a quiet bday celebration. Jose even joined us via Skype. It was so strange seeing his head sit on the computer screen on the dining room table. We enjoyed Elmo cake and pizza! So glad I didn't do the crazy over the top bday celebration. While my boys are worth it, I know that in the end, it was that we spent it together. I got each one of the boys a single toy and was also proud of myself for my restraint. Let's face it, they have lots of toys and to load them up with a million meaningless "things" wasn't going to make them any happier. So I got I & S a guitar do and drum. Isaiah loved the guitar! He has carried that thing around contstantly playing all the songs. The drum is toast at this point. Samuel has hit that poor thing so hard it broke. No big deal and we didn't replace it! We went to the beach back in June. Not really sure that is what I would call a vacation, but we got to spend some time with family. You know how you have something pictured in your head of how it's going to be and then BAM....it is nothing like that. Well, there you have it. My vacation dreams were smashed. I was grateful for the time away. Note to self, vacations with two year olds are not all they are cracked up to be...no matter how much I love them. Took the house off the market, but we are going to put it back on. Still want to sell this beautiful home and get a smaller mortgage. While I would love to move back to KY, the house has to be sold first. Chris is in college and doing his thing. Don't see him too often but from what I hear he is interested in going into the Air Force after graduation. That is a fabulous idea however I would never tell him that. Teenages never want to know what the parents think! He could use the structure and discipline. Besides, they would pay for his entire college student loans. Krystal and Jose are headed to Weisbadden Germany in June of 2013. He resigned for another 3 years and was lucky to get this base as a choice. He is very excited and so is she. What an amazing adventure they will be on and I am so happy for the both of them. I will miss them sure, but wow what a great opportunity. I really hope they take the chance to travel and see as much of Europe as they can. Jorge says we will take the whole family over. Not sure I really want to make the trip with two pre-schoolers so we'll see. That's one long......plane ride. Last but certainly not least we are thinking of adoption again. We have become aware of a little girl who is 8 and will be nine next month. She is an only child and is currently in DSS care. We are praying about it and know that God knows best! His plan is better than anything I can dream up. For right now I am at peace with everything and know that it will all be fine. I'm a little anxious as to be expected. I mean, how am I going to get three kids up for school each day, dressed and ready to go BEFORE 7:15 each day. I have to be at work at 8, Sweet Girl to school and boys to daycare. This means Mommy will be up at 5:30am to get myself together and ready to get kids up by 6:30 am. While my sweet husband assures me he will get up to help me out, he isn't really a morning person. He will forever be the night owl. I've never seen someone sleep through EVERYTHING the way he does. He doesn't get home until about 2:30am so I'm being unreasonable to ask him to get up at 6:30 to help with the kids. I will handle it, I'm sure. So there you have it in a nutshell.

One on One time

Over this past weekend Samuel zonked out in my lap and after laying him in my bed for a short nap, Isaiah and I had a little Mommy & Me time while eating dinner. I rarely get the boys one at a time and they rarely get me like that, but we all enjoy it when it happens. Being an only child I never had to share my parents with anyone. There was always that one on one time with any of them. Trips to the store, vacations, rides in the car, you get the idea. Samuel and Isaiah also share caregiver time at daycare. There are 12, yes 12 kids in their classroom and only 2 teachers. Imagine you and your significant other care for twelve kids between 12mos and 24 months old. Mind blowing if you ask me. Granted, Tammy and Tiffany do not have to prepare any meals which is a huge time suck. Even still, they are my heros! I think I'm beginning to understand why Samuel is so clingy and fussy when we finally get home for the day. He just wants to be held and loved on. Who can blame him or Isaiah for that matter. They want a little attention without having to share it with another kid. Looks like we'll have to work on that! Here's a photo of Isaiah eating during our Mommy & Me time on Sunday.

My Dad jinxed me....

So during the Super Bowl last night I called my Dad to see how he was doing. After a few minutes of talking, he asks, "So the boys still sleeping good through the night?" JINX! I swear Isaiah heard him. After getting two very tired little boys to bed, Isaiah woke up screaming at 11pm. Jorge got up with him, made warm milk, rocked him to sleep only for Isaiah to start screaming again when Jorge put him in his crib. We tried letting him cry it out, but it wasn't happening. He was up. At midnight, I got up, put him in bed with me and we fell asleep in Chris' room. Sleeping, if you can call it that, with Isaiah is no picnic. He kicks, flails his arms and takes forever to calm down. Not sure what caused the drama, but at least we got a little sleep. So....no more questions about sleeping habits...okay?

Another new routine...

It amazes me how many new routines you must create, introduce and get used to as a mom and especially a mom of twins. With twins, nothing ever seems the same twice, well for very long anyway. Just when you think you have it all down, wham....another change occurs. Fortunately I think I deal with change fairly well. So it is in our house again, another change. My husbands work schedule has changed yet again and I think the boys know it. Sam woke up last night around 9pm and just wanted to snuggle. :0) That made mommy happy. However when I tried to put him back down to bed, he began to cry, which woke up Isaiah. Isaiah was fine but mad his brother had woke him up and was voicing his opinion about it. So I tried getting them both back to sleep but Isaiah wasn't having it. What to do....what to do? I made an executive decision and Isaiah went back in his crib to cry it out. (Insert Mommy Guilt Here!) I knew he would stop quickly and fall back asleep. He likes sleeping in his crib. To sleep with Isaiah you need a WWF degree! I've never seen a kid kick, toss and turn all night like him. I knew if I put him in bed with me, we'd never sleep. Sam ended up in bed with me and went right to sleep. While he may turn a few times and take a little bit to get calmed down, he snuggles well. Eventually the house was quiet and everyone got some sleep, even Mommy! Another routine I need to adjust to is Daddy not being home in the morning to help with the boys. Since they were born this was the routine and I did great with it. However for a long while now, he has been home in the mornings to help me get them ready, let the dogs out, get breakfast etc. This morning was interesting for sure. While brushing my teeth Isaiah went to throw away his dirty diaper (don't understand why he enjoys it so much but hey...) and all of a sudden it hit me, the dog bowls were down on the floor. I spit, raced to the kitchen and just as I made it around the corner I could hear the metal dish hit the floor and the gush of water everywhere. Ugh! It was the last thing I wanted to deal with. After cleaning up the mess both boys went strapped into the car with a video playing while I gathered my things for the day. Another day started.... Paci's are another routine breaker we are experiencing. Sam has kicked the habit completely however Isaiah is holding on. While he only has it at night or nap time I'm hoping it will be gone in the next few months. I've assured myself he won't walk across the graduation stage with it in his mouth so I'm not too concerned but it would be great to ditch it earlier than his freshman year! A quick Sam funny... This morning while I finished putting on my makeup I saw Sam playing in the full length mirror in our bedroom. He looked at himself, waved and said Bye Bye to his reflection then blew himself a kiss. Precious!

Just read this today and wanted to share. I've griped & moaned about my husband working nights and having very little help with the boys. That ends today. My husband is wonderful, provides for his family and loves us immensely. While I selfishly would love for him to be home when it is convenient for all of us, especially me, I am grateful he has a job he loves and provides for us. When people tell me daily that I have my hands full, I will smile and say, "Full of great things!" My cup runneth over! Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank) by Rachel Jankovic | July 14, 2011 A few years ago, when I just had four children and when the oldest was still three, I loaded them all up to go on a walk. After the final sippy cup had found a place and we were ready to go, my two-year-old turned to me and said, “Wow! You have your hands full!” She could have just as well said, “Don’t you know what causes that?” or “Are they all yours?!” Everywhere you go, people want to talk about your children. Why you shouldn’t have had them, how you could have prevented them, and why they would never do what you have done. They want to make sure you know that you won’t be smiling anymore when they are teenagers. All this at the grocery store, in line, while your children listen. A Rock-Bottom Job? The truth is that years ago, before this generation of mothers was even born, our society decided where children rank in the list of important things. When abortion was legalized, we wrote it into law. Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get. In fact, children rate below your desire to sit around and pick your toes, if that is what you want to do. Below everything. Children are the last thing you should ever spend your time doing. If you grew up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood, to think like a free Christian woman about your life, your children. How much have we listened to partial truths and half lies? Do we believe that we want children because there is some biological urge, or the phantom “baby itch”? Are we really in this because of cute little clothes and photo opportunities? Is motherhood a rock-bottom job for those who can’t do more, or those who are satisfied with drudgery? If so, what were we thinking? It's Not a Hobby Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for. Christian mothers carry their children in hostile territory. When you are in public with them, you are standing with, and defending, the objects of cultural dislike. You are publicly testifying that you value what God values, and that you refuse to value what the world values. You stand with the defenseless and in front of the needy. You represent everything that our culture hates, because you represent laying down your life for another—and laying down your life for another represents the gospel. Our culture is simply afraid of death. Laying down your own life, in any way, is terrifying. Strangely, it is that fear that drives the abortion industry: fear that your dreams will die, that your future will die, that your freedom will die—and trying to escape that death by running into the arms of death. Run to the Cross But a Christian should have a different paradigm. We should run to to the cross. To death. So lay down your hopes. Lay down your future. Lay down your petty annoyances. Lay down your desire to be recognized. Lay down your fussiness at your children. Lay down your perfectly clean house. Lay down your grievances about the life you are living. Lay down the imaginary life you could have had by yourself. Let it go. Death to yourself is not the end of the story. We, of all people, ought to know what follows death. The Christian life is resurrection life, life that cannot be contained by death, the kind of life that is only possible when you have been to the cross and back. The Bible is clear about the value of children. Jesus loved them, and we are commanded to love them, to bring them up in the nurture of the Lord. We are to imitate God and take pleasure in our children. The Question Is How The question here is not whether you are representing the gospel, it is how you are representing it. Have you given your life to your children resentfully? Do you tally every thing you do for them like a loan shark tallies debts? Or do you give them life the way God gave it to us—freely? It isn’t enough to pretend. You might fool a few people. That person in line at the store might believe you when you plaster on a fake smile, but your children won’t. They know exactly where they stand with you. They know the things that you rate above them. They know everything you resent and hold against them. They know that you faked a cheerful answer to that lady, only to whisper threats or bark at them in the car. Children know the difference between a mother who is saving face to a stranger and a mother who defends their life and their worth with her smile, her love, and her absolute loyalty. Hands Full of Good Things When my little girl told me, “Your hands are full!” I was so thankful that she already knew what my answer would be. It was the same one that I always gave: “Yes they are—full of good things!” Live the gospel in the things that no one sees. Sacrifice for your children in places that only they will know about. Put their value ahead of yours. Grow them up in the clean air of gospel living. Your testimony to the gospel in the little details of your life is more valuable to them than you can imagine. If you tell them the gospel, but live to yourself, they will never believe it. Give your life for theirs every day, joyfully. Lay down pettiness. Lay down fussiness. Lay down resentment about the dishes, about the laundry, about how no one knows how hard you work. Stop clinging to yourself and cling to the cross. There is more joy and more life and more laughter on the other side of death than you can possibly carry alone. Rachel Jankovic is a wife, homemaker, and mother. She is the author of "Loving the Little Years" and blogs at Femina. Her husband is Luke, and they have five children: Evangeline (5), Daphne (4), Chloe (2), Titus (2), and Blaire (5 months).

Summer FUN

Another free photo slideshow by Smilebox

First Birthday Bash!

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Now that's Entertainment!

A whole new way to entertain the kids while I make dinner!  Open up the pantry and VIOLA!

The Ladies Man(s)!

This past Sunday in an effort to escape the boring, we set out to enjoy the most beautiful day in Downtown Greenville at Artisphere.  This art show is much like the St. James Art Fair in Louisville but not as big.  So we headed downtown after a much needed nap to take in the happenings.  It is wild to see artist take what is in thier mind and create something to share with everyone.  There were so many wonderful things and I wish I had thought to take a pic or two.  Instead I had to take a photo of what happens everytime we take the boys somewhere. 

10 mos old and already lady killers!

That's right!  There are my boys laughing, smiling and flirting with the ladies.  I swear I found one girls phone number tucked in their stroller.  ;0)  What chick magnets they make.  Seems like I can't go anywhere without having someone stopping me to ask questions.  Here are the standard answers:  Yes they are twins.  No they aren't identical. 10 months old.  Yes they are a handful.  Yes, I am truly blessed!  Thank you.  I dont' mind, but it does take me a little longer to get an errand run now-a-days.  They are worth it!

Easter Fun

Easter has come and gone and I'm a little late posting pics of the boys.  They are so big, healthy and happy!  Not sure why God continues his favor on me and my family, but I'm so glad He does.  Samuel and Isaiah are both just the sweetest babies ever!  Here are a few pics of the millions I snapped at Lisa and Chuck's house on Easter Sunday.  I'm no photographer by any stretch, but I think these are pretty special.
 

Samuel

Smiling Sam

Sweet Baby Sam

Isaiah

Mommy's Mini Me!

These sweet boys are laughing at their daddy and "Uncle Chuck!"

It continues to amaze me that my husband has a baby that looks just like him and one that looks just like me.  I never thought in a million years while I was pregnant that either one of these boys would look like me.  Isaiah even has my picky eating habits.  He hates the texture of things.  But you wouldn't know it by looking at the little chubster!  He's almost 25 lbs and Sam is right behind him.  Samuel is an 1.75 taller than his brother though.  God how much I love them!

Getting Tubes!

Last week Samuel & Isaiah finally got tubes in their ears. They did great (better than mommy) and were real troopers. So far they have slept great and seem to have stopped with the runny nose, other than allergy season starting. I don't care what the doctors say, these boys have the same crappy allergies as their mommy and brother Chris. We have all been sneezy, itchy watery eyes, coughing, you know the drill.

Last night when I got home from work, Sam just wanted to be held. I loved it. He sat in my arms while Jorge made part of dinner and he entertained them while I finished. Everything around here is a team effort. No slacking allowed. I held Sam so long he just drifted off in my arms. This is after he took a 3 hour nap at daycare. What can I say...he takes after his momma who LOVES her sleep. Jorge fussed at me for letting him fall asleep saying he wouldn't go to bed. Not my boy! He had a bottle and was out like a light. Soon my little boy will be on the go and won't want to be held. He will be too busy getting into everything so I will enjoy the snuggle time while I can get it.

Sam is just itching to crawl. He does great at getting up on his knees and hands, but that's where it stops. He rocks back and forth then looks at me like, "Why am I not going anywhere?" He has even started pulling up on things like chairs, coffee table & the bouncy seat. I might mention he is doing this without success. He get to his knees and then gives me the same look as before.

Isaiah is teething right now. His two front teeth are coming in and he has three on the bottom. It figures my good eater would be the first to cut those teeth. He is the most content baby ever. Doesn't matter where you sit him, he will be happy with whatever you do. He's never in a hurry to get anywhere except to the bottle! He loves to play with the dogs and Jewel is too sweet with him. She tolerates the pulling of her fur and the pats of love he gives. He hates naps however. Luckily last Sunday he slept for 1.5 hours which gave me enough time to clean the first floor of my house. Jorge and I were like a tornado cleaning away. The Lord knew I needed those babies to sleep to accomplish a few things around the house.

That's all for now! Love to everyone.

Time for Tubes

So we are on schedule to get tubes in the boys ears.  After schleping them to the ENT doc on a rainy, cold, Friday morning and the doc taking 10 seconds to check each one of their ears, the decision was made to get tubes.  We knew it was coming and are relieved.  This will help all that fluid drain off their ears and hopefully be sick a lot less.  Looks like it will be some time in March when that happens! 

Now on to fun stuff.  Isaiah is just a heartbeat away from crawling.  He gets up on all fours and starts rocking back and forth.  Mostly he goes backwards, but it won't be long before he is all over the house.  Sam is sitting up on his own and his favorite place to be is on the floor playing with toys.  He also loves to watch the dogs.  Especially Gracie.  I guess because she is so small.  Last week I was holding her in my lap and he reached over and grabbed a hunk of her hair.  She yelped and we had a little lesson on how to pet the puppy. 

Next week is my annual trip to Memphis for work.  It's always cold, packed full of meetings and I can't wait to get back home.  This year will be extra difficult.  The only night I've ever been away from the boys was while I was in the hospital.  That was torture!  My Dad is coming down on Sunday to stay with Jorge and help out.  Raising twins is a team effort for sure.  Since they go to bed, eat and bathe at the same time, it takes four arms, not just two to get the job done.  My dad is great with them and he's looking forward to helping out.  Wish he lived here in SC. 

The Great Paci Mystery

I'm clueless to where paci's seem to disappear to.  It seems I buy pacifiers like every week and they all find a home somewhere else.  We will turn the house upside down looking for one as if it is a magic volume control for my sons.  The fact that we can't keep up with something so simple drives me crazy!  To the point that I will grunt and stomp around, holding my crying baby trying to find the darn thing.  My husband doesn't know why it makes me so nuts to lose things but that is the one thing about parent hood that I haven't grasped well.  I mean I don't lose my cell phone or my car keys.  A paci is a VERY important thing to have. 

This week I have resorted to only keeping one in the crib, one attached to the car seat and one at daycare.  Surely 3 paci's per baby is enough.  I'd really like to break them of it all together.  Isaiah has never been much on a paci except in the middle of the night to give Mommy a few more hours sleep.  He's always self soothed faily well so I don't think it will be a problem in the future.  Samuel on the other had LOVES his paci.  Right now he's teething so he's starting to spit it out more often.  But when he's really crying, it works like magic.  I'm hoping we can at least keep up with the 6 we have left and that will be the end of paci's in our house.  Nothing drives me more crazy than to see a 2 year old trying to talk to you with a paci in their mouth.  Every child is different, but I'm hoping I can avert the whole issue of really ripping it out of my crying son's hands and saying bye bye to it when they can understand what's going on.  Maybe the missing paci's are hanging out with missing socks from the dryer! 

Traveling with Twins

These babies are amazing!  I mean, really amazing!  We drove 7 successful hours to and from KY with no glitches.  They slept most all of the way and only for about 45 minutes did Samuel get fussy.  He was hungry and cutting a tooth.  I guess I'll cut the little guy some slack. 

We had a great time in KY visiting family and of course everyone loved the boys.  My dad got a bum knee while we were there, but it didn't slow him down any that's for sure.  We had such a blast and miss everyone so much.

Christmas with the Twins

What a great 2010!  Samuel & Isaiah are such a blessing and keep us really busy!  This is their first photo with Santa. That's Isaiah on the left and Sam on the right.  I couldn't believe we got them both to smile at the same time!  Great job photo elf for capturing that one.  Christmas was peaceful and quiet which was GREAT!  Jose and Krystal came home, Chris stayed on his computer and Samuel slept through most of the day.  Isaiah just chilled out and let us all enjoy the day. 

The boys are getting so BIG!  Isaiah weighs 19.3 pounds while Sam is 18.4.  They are already wearing size 9 months clothing.  Isaiah has his bottom two teeth and Sam is rolling over, all over the place.  He goes from back to front and then gets really irritated because he feels stuck on his tummy.  Over the weekend he's figured out how to roll from front to back though.  If I don't swaddle him at night, he's all over the place in his crib and gets no sleep. Which means I get no sleep.  Both have had ear infections and it looks like Sam will get tubes before it's all over with.  That's fine with me if it takes away the pain for him.  He's a bear when he's sick. 

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Thanksgiving with Twins

Okay.....here we go!  Thanksgiving is Thursday and I'm completely unpreparred.  My dad was going to come down for a visit Wed-Sunday, however he now has the Flu so he won't make it.  I hate it too!  He was really looking forward to seeing his grand-babies!  So I thought, well...now I'm off the hook. No need to make a huge dinner for Jorge, me and Chris.  OH NO!  Jorge isn't having it.  I suggested we just go out to eat this year considering it would be hard to make all that food with two 5 month olds, but Jorge doesn't want to be one of those families who goes out to eat on Holidays.  I understand and appreciate his want to keep a tradition, but I have NO IDEA how I'm going to make it work. I can barely get myself out the door in the morning for work much less cook a Thanksgiving meal.  I even asked if we could get a turkey breast and skip the big bird.  NO WAY!  It must be the real thing with stuffing, sweet potatos, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings.  Lord help me because I will probably lose my mind trying to do this.  I look forward to having four days off of work, but I'm sure I'll need it to recouperate after this fiasco that's coming on Thursday!  Keep me in your prayers please!

Caffine

I'm in dire need of caffine right about now.  On the way to work this morning I decided not to stop at the Quicky Mart and purchase my morning Elixer of Life aka Diet Coke.  I thought I would just get one out of the machine instead at work. WRONG!  Some idiot can't seem to operate a simple Coke machine and stuck all of their quarters in it at one time causing a traffic jam of coins.  This is not good.  Now I'm stuck at work, by myself and there are no options for caffine.  Samuel was up at 1:30 and didn't go back to sleep until 3am, then Isaiah woke at 3:00 to a stuffy, snot filled nose.  Jorge took that shift but I help suck the snot out of his nose.  He finally went back down at 4am.  No sleep, no caffine....it is going to be a long day!

Dedication Day for Samuel & Isaiah

Samuel & Isaiah

Isaiah (my mini me)

Dad & Isaiah, Mom & Samuel

My Sweet Sam

Yesterday my boys were dedicated to the Lord in front of our family and church family. It was such a special day and we had so much fun. I especially loved spending the day with my family. My aunt, grandmother and two cousins were all in town for the ceremony. Isaiah and Samuel looked so cute! They were so well behaved during church too. I just don't think I could feel any more blessed!  It is a day I will never forget.

It's official...I'm a Gleek!

Watched my first episode of Glee after hearing everyone rave about it. Now I'm usually the DWTS, America's Got Talent and Idol type of watcher, but remember what "Show Choir" was like in High School, I thought I'd try it out. Seriously Funny Stuff. Since I'm ditching expanded cable to pay the insanely high cost of Daycare...I have to find programming on "regular" stations now. It's official I'm hooked. I missed last nights episode because I was just so darn tired. Boys were in bed by 8pm and hubby and I were in bed by 8:15. There was a time when Jorge would give me all kinds of grief about going to bed at 10pm. He seriously thought it would hurt our marriage because I go to bed so early. Let me tell you he was right next to me last night. I reminded him of how he would taunt me about going to bed so early and he replied, "Shut Up Kimberly!" Oh how the tables have turned. The boys wear us out by the time they are fed, changed and dinner is made (if it gets made). They are still sick and I'm coming down with it too. The joys of parenting.

The Daycare Blues

No parent wishes to send their kids to Daycare! I don't know one mom who wouldn't want to stay home with their kids if at all possible and I'm no exception. I'm sure there are parents out there who would contradict me, but lets say I'm correct for the majority of moms! With that said, I think I have the cleanest daycare in the city. Privately owned by a lady at my church for 23 years and she keeps things updated and very nice! It does not look like a run down 23 year old building. Shelia and Mary Ann love on my boys like crazy so I know they are in good hands. Even still, they are sick. I know this is common and all kids get sick. It just breaks my heart to hear them so congested. My mother in law would be on the first flight to SC if she knew they were sick from daycare. She raised 8 children and stayed home with all of them. How they did it I will never know. I'm sure they did without a lot of things to make it happen. You would never know it though. So we are re-evaluating all the little luxeries we have at home. You know...those things that "we" never had like cable, cell phones, internet I could go on and on. Day care is $285 per week. It is killing me to fork that out each week. Don't even get me started on formula. $70 per week and they just changed the packaging to be more eco friendly, but it is less formula for the same price. CRAZY!!!!

Jorge kept them at home yesterday since he had the day off and I think he totally appreciates all the hard work I did while at home on maternity leave. It isn't easy with twins, that's for sure. In any case, I would love to stay home with them. They are sooooo cool!