It's pool time!!!

Well, the big bash is over and it went off without a hitch. I will proudly say that I think it was perhaps the best (yes, maybe a little too extravagent) 1st Birthday Party ever! We had a grand total of over 60 guests and it was truly a blast! Pictures of the party will be coming soon! Thank you to everyone who helped make the day so special, it meant a lot to us that you were all there!

I've mentioned before how much we adore our neighborhood. It's a fabulous place to live and raise children. We've been waiting for our awesome neighborhood pool to open and today was the day! Brian is playing in his favorite golf tournament today, so I was a little nervous taking two toddlers (yes, toddlers, not babies anymore!) to the pool on my own, but it went just fine and I think that we all had fun!
Macy

Sadie

Heading home and tired!

Happy 1st Birthday Sadie and Macy!

Dear Sadie,

Happy 1st Birthday! I cannot believe that you are one year old already; the time has truly flown by! It feels like yesterday that you were still in Mommy’s tummy. Inside my tummy, you were my reliable baby and you still are today. You were head down from 12 weeks into my pregnancy and you stayed that way the whole time! You had hiccups at almost the same time everyday and it always made Mommy laugh and smile!

One year ago today, I met you for the very first time. You were stubborn from the start and you weren’t so sure that you wanted to leave the comfort of my tummy. But, after lots of effort, we finally saw you for the very first time. Daddy said that you were perfect. I wanted to hold you more then anything, but just like you do now, you had to patiently wait for Mommy’s attention while I attended to your sister (she needed to join the world too). Daddy stayed by your side and I’m pretty sure your infatuation with him started right then and there!

From the moment I first held you, I knew that you were the sweetest thing that I would ever meet. Your love for others is truly a gift and everyone who meets you gets such joy from your hugs! Sometimes I feel selfish for wanting to be the first one to hold you every morning, so that I can receive your hugs, pats and cuddles. Your smile and laugh are literally contagious. You love your sister so much and I adore watching you give her hugs and trying to get her attention so that she’ll play with you! I could not imagine a more loving person then you!

You are incredibly smart and observant and I love watching you learn. Today, I watched you sit for 10 minutes watching a squirrel eat nuts on our deck and when I told you what he was doing, you looked like you understood every word. I love that you have started repeating things that Mommy and Daddy say and Daddy loves it when you say “Bye, bye Dada” and wave. You are a natural in the water and look like you might swim away in the bathtub each night. This is just one of the many ways that you take after me!

I couldn’t be happier to have you as my daughter, Sadie. You have made this year the most wonderful of my life. I am so proud to be your Mommy and I hope that you will forever be the sweetest person that I know!

Happy 1st Birthday, Sadie Bear!

Love,

Mommy

Dear Macy,

Happy 1st Birthday! Today you are one year old…wow! It feels like yesterday that I was feeling you move inside my tummy. Each day I would laugh as I felt your feet kick the top of my belly and I loved pushing on your tiny feet and feeling you push back. Your little body took up most of my belly, as you sprawled out in there and moved all over. Today you are still my same silly, mover and shaker!

I remember the moment I first saw you like it was just yesterday, not one year ago. They put you onto my belly and I looked into your face an instantly fell in love. You looked just like your Daddy right away and I laughed as I saw your body on me, because your arms and legs were spread all over, just like you had spent the last 9 months. I knew that we had a special bond right from the start because you stopped crying when I touched your cheek. You made your Daddy so proud when he saw you lift your tiny head right off your blanket and we knew right then that you were going to bring so much excitement and fun to our lives.

Right from the start you have brought so much laughter to my life. You are the spunkiest and most fun person that I have ever met. Your personality commands attention and everyone who meets you is drawn to your smile. It has been said many times that you are already the “life of every party” as you seem to shine around people. You love kissing your Daddy on the lips while saying “muah” and nothing makes me happier then when you give me a kiss too!

You amaze me each and every single day with the things that you are learning and doing. Out of the blue you have become a walker and it seems like you make it your job everyday to walk as much as you possibly can! You look like a pro as you stand up with ease and walk in circles around the room, smiling and shrieking to make sure I see your tricks. You are a daredevil at heart and fearlessly climb chairs and toys with the utmost determination to succeed. When you accomplish your task, you radiate with pride. This is one of the many ways that you are just like your Daddy.

I couldn’t be happier to be your Mommy, Macy! You have filled my life with more laughter then I would have ever thought possible! I’m so proud to have you as my daughter and I hope that you will forever be the most enchanting person that I know!

Happy 1st Birthday Macy Moo!

Love,

Mommy

We've had a terrific first birthday so far! We started the day by waking the girls up by singing "Happy Birthday," which they seemed to enjoy! Daddy picked us up for lunch and we had a wonderful time watching golfers play and enjoying excellent food. The wait staff surprised us at the end of lunch by bringing out two beautiful purple cupcakes on plates that said "Happy 1st Birthday Sadie" and "Happy 1st Birthday Macy!" As expected, Sadie dove right in and devoured her cupcake in less then 4 minutes. Macy on the other hand was a little overwhelmed by the experience and didn't get a chance to enjoy her cupcake in between cries! It was a memorable experience for all!

Many, many more pictures to come in the next few days! Guests starting arriving to town tomorrow and the BIG BASH is on Sunday!!!!

One year ago

One year ago at this exact moment, I was walking into Dublin Methodist Hospital to become a mom. I had no idea that I had 19 long hours of labor ahead of me, nor did I know anything about the two adorable little girls that I was getting ready to meet. It's hard to believe how fast the year has gone....


Early tomorrow morning at 1:06 and 1:10 AM, my babies will be ONE YEAR OLD!

Every minute...

As I loaded my two children into a grocery cart (the size of small bus) at Kroger today, I received a call from a good friend of mine. This friend has newborn, twin girls. We usually talk a few times per week and I've been continually amazed by the ease and calmness that she has portrayed in parenting twins thus far. However, today I noticed a few rare words come out of her mouth. She mentioned several times about the exhaustion and frustration that she was experiencing and used words like "trying to keep my sanity." It immediately took me back to that time; a time when I didn't even feel like a human because I was so tired. I remember going through the motions everyday and truly just trying to survive. I wished away the hours and days, waiting for things to get easier; waiting to get sleep. I can remember going to the grocery store, just like today, but with tiny baby twins and people looking at me and saying "you are so lucky" or "how much fun!" and while I knew in my head that I was lucky, I just wanted to scream at them, "you see how lucky it is when you're up at midnight, 3 am, 6 am, trying to feed two hungry babies!" and "you see how fun it is when you're trying to decide which of your screaming babies to pick up first!"

But, as I talked with this friend today, I was surprised that I also felt feelings of jealousy. As I looked at my "big kids," who drink milk out of a sippy and who I rarely get to hold and snuggle because they are so busy, I realized that I missed those moments of having two, tiny, sweet newborn babies. It's so hard for me to believe that it was almost a year ago that I was living the crazy life of parenting newborn twins...where has that time gone?! You see, as parents of twins (and I'm sure any parent for that matter), it's hard to enjoy every moment. When you are holding one newborn, your constantly thinking about how you are NOT holding the other sweet baby who is laying in the pack n play alone. You find yourself trying so hard to get them on a strict schedule, so that you all will survive, that you don't enjoy the small moments of time when one child is awake the other is asleep. It's so hard to feed two babies at once, that it's impossible to enjoy the bonding time that you get when feeding your child. So, as I talked to my friend today, I thought to myself how nice it would be to be in her shoes again, but know what I know now...to "enjoy every minute" because it goes too fast...

So today I made myself enjoy every minute of my "almost one year olds." I grinned as I watched my sweet little girl pick every pea out of her dinner and gracefully toss it onto the floor (can you guess which one of my perfect children this was?). I giggled when I heard the laughter AND screaming as Sadie tackled Macy to the floor to give her a hug. I stopped and talked to the people that I normally avoid on my errands, as they asked me the seemingly ridiculous questions about my beautiful twin girls. I beamed with pride as I watched Macy walk all the way from her bedroom to the bathroom tub for bath time and locked the image of her tiny, naked body toddling out of the room into my memory. And I smiled as I put a screaming child to bed tonight, knowing that I'd made her day so much fun, that it was just awful to have to go to bed and not continue playing....

And so with that, I leave you with pictures of my big kids and hope that you too, will enjoy every minute...

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy May! Can you believe that the girls' Birthday is almost here! This time last year, I was barely able to move and the size of a whale, but look what two beautiful babies I have just one year later!


I'll start with a few pictures from the Derby Party that we attended at Joe and Paula's. As usual is was a blast and the girls had a great time playing with all of Paula's cool decorations and their dog, Jack! It was great to have many helpers with the girls and to be able to enjoy a few moments socializing with friends!


Macy attempting to tap the mini-keg!
Sadie and Jake, ready for the Derby

The girls giving Jack some love!

Jake and my ladies, his prom dates!

The other day, the girls and I took our friend Erin and her twins, Griffin and Addison to the playground to swing and had a blast! We love playig with other sets of twins!

Here is Sadie and Addison...

Macy waiting her turn...

Since Macy and Griffin couldn't wait their turn without eating mulch, we decided to try, "two babies to a swing!" Here are all four babies having a blast!

And last, but not least, Mother's Day! It's been a great day, complete with sleeping in, while Daddy watched the babies, brunch with the whole family and relaxing at home! I received so many nice cards and gifts and while I don't think that the girls know what today is, I like to think that they are being extra nice to their Mommy today!

PS. Macy's walking up a storm!!! :)

Our Florida vacation!

Well, I've finally found a few seconds to post our Florida pictures! We had a really nice time, although it was a lot of work for everyone involved! The girls were WONDERFUL on the plane rides and we received several compliments from fellow passengers, who all admitted that they were nervous when they saw our family board the plane!! Long gone are the days of relaxing, sleeping, or grabbing a drink while flying; instead Brian and worked tirelessly to keep the girls entertained and busy, so that they wouldn't make a peep. And it worked.


The weather was wonderful in Florida and it was so special for the girls to meet the second of their two great-grandmothers, who is Sadie's namesake! They also got to meet their Great-Aunt Suzy, Great-cousin Cathy and Great-Uncle Brad. We spent most of our days swimming and relaxing on the patio and even had a playpen set up where the girls could play while we enjoyed a few cocktails. Brian, Brad and Grandpa Chuck went fishing one day and while they didn't catch a whole lot, they had fun!

Here is Sadie, Great-Grammy, and Macy
The trip was also full of birthday celebrations. My birthday was the day after we returned home, so we celebrated my last birthday in my 20's, with dinner on our last night in town. It was a lot of fun, but I feel bad for the waitress who had to clean the floors after we left, because the girls are becoming quite messy eaters!

The girls also celebrated while in FL. They turned 11 months old on April 19th! It is so hard for me to believe that in just ONE month we will be celebrating their first birthday! I feel like their party will be a celebration both for them and also for Brian and myself. We will be toasting to having survived the first year with twins!

Here is a great picture of Sadie on her 11 month birthday. It completely captures her sweet and happy demeanor!

My Sadie Bug

I love this picture of Macy at 11 months, because it also completely portrays her personality...silly and spunky! My Macy Moo

My girls at 11 months old!

Great-Cousin Cathy and Macy

Grammy loving Sadie

The boys with the girls. Brian, Brad and Macy, Chuck and Sadie

We swam with the girls a lot while in FL. We had two great baby floats and cranked the heat in the pool up to a "bathtub warm" 90 degrees. Just like everything else so far, Sadie appears to take after her mommy and was a total fish! She loved being in the water and looked as though she might just swim away. Macy while apprehensive at first, warmed up to the pool quickly, but preferred to stick close to Mom and Dad.

Brian and Great-Grammy

Great-Aunt Suzy and Sadie

Macy continues to LOVE hats!

And last, but not least, my two FAVORITE pictures from the trip. These two pictures are just so adorable and make me smile, because it shows how much my girls love to hang out with their Daddy!

Macy and Daddy pointing to gators. Ummm, do you think those two could look any more alike?

Sadie, grinning from ear to ear, while her Daddy tosses her around in the pool! Could she get any cuter?

A huge thanks to Grammy for all of her help with the girls while in FL. Vacationing with babies is a lot of work, but she made it all possible and allowed Brian and I to get at least a few moments of sun and relaxation!

Bubbles and playdates!

We've been so busy enjoying the weather that I haven't had time to post! We're loving being outside, going to the playground, the zoo, and playing with friends. We can't wait for the neighborhood pool to open, so we can enjoy the water too!

They'll be signed up for at least one session of swimming lessons this summer and we are so excited to see how it goes! The lessons are pretty intense and last 45 minutes per day for two weeks. This means that I'll have to get a mother's helper to attend with me, since I can't hold both babies at once. I considered signing up for two separate sessions of lessons and taking one baby at a time. But since that involved getting a babysitter anyway for the non-swimmer and would involve choosing who should go first, I decided we'd all do it together! The girls look fabulous in their swimsuits; if only Mommy looked as great in hers!

In other news, I hosted a "twinfant" playgroup at our house last weekend. We had 7 sets of twins ranging in age from 7 weeks to 14 months in our playroom this past Saturday! While the girls enjoyed seeing the new people, they spent most of their time fascinated by the tiny 7 week old twins, who were sitting in infant seats. I had thought that the girls would love playing with the other kids, but instead I spent the entire playgroup prying the girls off of and out of the infant seats and away from the little babies! Not an ideal situation, but it was still great to talk with my twin mom friends and to see all of the twinies interacting and playing. I was so busy hosting that I only took ONE picture... Here's Macy with her friend Griffin and his twin sister (laying in the behind) Addison. If you look closely, you can see Sadie in the background, attempting to climb in

a baby carseat...ugh!

Another one of our favorite outdoor activities is blowing bubbles! The girls are absolutely mesmerized with trying to catch them! It's so cute!