Having Fun In The Captains Boat

Santa brought the girls a ball pit for Christmas, actually it's a boat filled with ...well...balls. They have a blast in it. Pretending they are sailing with Captain Feathersword (those of you not versed in Wiggles he is a character on that program). It's always a battle to get into this little nook of the blown up contraption. Whom ever gets here first is the 'driver' and the other is in the 'backseat'. Reagan usually is at he helm, and you can hear her shout, 'Ev-wee buddy ready?'

When we go out on our adventures I always ask them that same question phrased more like, Is everybody ready? Tonight we sailed around the world. Tomorrow, Walmart.

Blueberry Happiness

As a special treat the girls had a great big bowl of blueberries. Aubrey was nothing but mischief and smiles the rest of the night.

THE GIRLS CLUB

My mom took this picture before she left in the fall.

I love it.

Me and my girls.

FROM THE GARDEN THEY WILL GROW

GIANT PUMPKINS

So this post was done by special request. He I am with the twins Aubrey is on right and Reagan is on the left. Halloween is my favorite time of year. Autumn hues and GIANT PUMPKINS that adorn the landscape have always brought a smile to my face. Red, gold and yellow, scarecrows, pumpkin picking and the rustling of leaves these are a few of my favorite things... I've always loved Jack O Lanterns and all things Halloween. So to celebrate this changing time of the year and a changing me I became a GIANT PUMPKIN! This was Oct. 31 2004, the girls were born 12 days later. Looking back at this I didn't feel that big by MY GOSH that's a lot of baby! This journey into parenthood has been the best experience of my life, and each day our lives gets richer and richer from the love they give us. Belly paint was done by Todd. Still makes me chuckle out loud thinking about when we went to our friends house later this afternoon and I can still see the expression on their faces. I think it was the same look I had when I opened this file looking for these pictures. My mother, Grammy B calls all the little ones her pumpkin patch, I think it may stem from this photo.

Enjoy.

My other baby as a baby

OK everybody remember when...

It's amazing how fast they've grown. I feel like it was yesterday I was anticipating those first movements, daydreaming; were they boys or girls, wondering who they would look like. Then in a flash they were throwing their arms around my neck saying 'I love you mama'.

I would just like to take a minute and congratulate those cousins, friends and friends of friends who have just had there beautiful babies, or found out if they the newest members of the 'boys club'. I hear it's an exclusive club, unfortunately I'm not a member with my three little girls. It's an amazing time in your lives and I wish all of you the best of luck, and of course happy healthy babies. Enjoy these quiet times and sleepless times in a short while they'll be sweet memories.

Tiny hands and feet, soft skin and sleepless nights still bring a smile to my face, Ok the sleepless nights maybe a smirk. Rocking my girls and kissing the tops of their heads and their tiny toes, humming sweet lullabies, taking in that one of kind sweet baby scent.

We were very lucky to be blessed with the twins born at 38 and a half weeks, weighing in at 6.02 and 5.12. We had them on Friday and went home on Sunday. Edie joined our family 18 months later born at 40 weeks and 9 days, weighing in at 8.8.

I fell in love with all them instantly.

Some days are easier than others but

everyday is new day!

When my babies were babies

EDIE UPDATE

I think we may be getting a little orange.

Diet: Edie continues to have a healthy appetite. She is currently enjoying a healthy diet of fruits and veggies and her formula. She is enjoying steamed broccoli stems, and frozen blueberries, peas, corn.

At lunch and dinner she is eating 3 Stage 2 jars of veggies (4.5oz each) and finishing with 3.5oz of fruit then a bottle (6-8oz).

Development: This morning she delighted me by pulling herself up to the sitting position by herself!! She used Daddy's chair to help her, but she did it herself. Every day she gets a little closer to crawling on her hands and knees instead of the army crawl she has been doing. She'll say mama mama when I say it to her, and its starting to make a haaa haaaa sound for hi or hello. Like I've said before she needs be where the action is, like her sisters she has found her voice and knows how to use it, especially when she is hungry.

OH BA GOSH

'Mommy take my picture! Look I do the Mit-tins by myself.' the 2 year old with a huge sense of humor says to me. She is just so darn cute and I had to share this picture with all of you. Those of you who know Aubrey really well know she is her fathers daughter. The sense of humor in these two are parallel.

She will find a hat and wear it all day, put on her snow boots and jammies...'My feet are cold' she'll say. She'll wear gloves or mittens and play along side Reagan, neither of them really noticing she is wearing them.

Our First Sledding Adventure

Our first sledding adventure. Thank you for the snow suits MeMe and Grampy! It was about 28degrees out and we survived for 38 minutes. The twins were very excited to be out in the snow.

The Test Run

The test run....

I walked up to the shed and got the 'boat' (the sled that Auntie and Uncle Eric got the girls for their birthday). I took the quickest route back to the girls by jumping onto the sled myself. It's been a while since I got onto a sled. I must admit it was fun! Take this into consideration there is about 2 inches of ice under an inch or two of powdery snow. I took off with my heals dug in to the ice to try to stop. I skidded over the drive and crashed into the trash cans. In the picture you can see the path I took. I stood up, brushed myself off, laughing out loud. Both girls stopped in their tracks and said in stereo,

'I want to do dat!'

Our sledding adventure began. We had a great time!

The Drive

This was our second option for sledding locations, nothing to really stop up, just a straight shot down to the road. So we decided the back yard/hill/mountain was a better choice. Like in my test run there are always the garbage cans to stop us. Where the driveway is and in the patio area it does level off a little so our chances for stopping were greater.

Snow Babies

I love the smile on Reagan's face.

She was so excited to walk around in the snow. The fresh was great, we all needed a little time outside of the house. Aubrey sat down and was trying to splash in the snow, like she was taking a bath. It was at this point Reagan tried to help her up and her gloves came off. Aubrey was saying,

'Help a me Ray!'

She was not happy her hands had got dirty and wet(we all know Aubrey does not like her hands being dirty), and we decided it was time to go sit by the fire and warm up.

Warming up by the fire.

Our sledding adventure ended with the girls warming up by the fire. We had Honey Stix and apple juice. They were saying,

'I'm so SO cold MaMa'

We had our picnic by the crackling fire and they warmed their little bodies. We called, MeMe and Grammy B to tell them about our sledding adventure. Hopefully this winter will bring us another snow and the girls can go on a sledding adventure again.

It won't be long!

Edie baby is growing.

This morning Todd let me sleep in because everyone was up due to the mouth boo-boos sustained from yesterdays dare devil attempts. Therefore, I missed Edie practicing the hands and knees rock. A little more than a short year ago the twins were in this same position. Then, our lives changed drastically. Yet again, we are on this path of the parenthood journey. Our little baby is growing and soon...very soon she will be chasing her sisters, she already needs to be where the action is, now she'll just be the action. Since we were just in this precarious position a short time ago,I know soon, very, very soon I'll have three toddlers in my home. I'm sure her sisters will help her with any type of mischievieous bahavoir she'll try to attemp, but at the same time they are very cautious and caring of thier little sister, and it won't take long for them to tattle on this behavior that they encouraged.

Say Cheese

Oh Ba Gosh, aren't we cute!! Thank you Aunt Maureen and Uncle Bob for the our Elmo shirts. We love them. We had a busy night, but this picture was just too cute not to post. I've taken 134 pics of my girls over the last two days. I want to capture everything, and be able to share it all with you. I hope you enjoy this one, it brought a smile to my face.

Whats the rule with gum?

Don't swallow it! (said in stereo)

'Mommy we need to go to the store!'

What do we need at the store?

'noon nuls (noodles) MeMe soup, crackers, apple juice. AND GUM!'

'Edie you hair is cwazy'

Edie Baby was having a bad hair night.

The girls said 'Edie you hair is cwazy!'

Sound asleep with special taggie after Uncle Jim's birthday party.

Chillin in the box

Reagan sitting back and watching

the Wiggles. She empties all her little

plastic animals onto the floor and climbs in.

She and Aubrey have done this since they were

little. Lately they have added, 'We takin' a

bath mama.'

HAPPY, HAPPY EDIE BABY

Thanks for fixing this picture for me! This is the happiest baby girl in the world. No joking and no kidding. I wish this child on every expectant parent I know. She has slept through the night since day one! (words of wisdom, don't wake a sleeping baby! They will eat when they wake, they will be rested and ready for the next task. Growing is alot of work, just ask your wife!!) She is a good traveler, super patient and she is nothing but loving. With all of her internal discomfort she is our shining star. Her sisters love her and she greets everyone with a smile! She is our gift and we are thankful and complete with her in our family. Edie or (Edie baby as we affectionately call her) had a great day today, she had a healthy appetite and enjoyed visiting with Auntie. She is a quick mover, watch out girls here comes your baby sister!

Lets Talk About It

I couldn't resist adding these pictures. I take a lot of pictures and they just stay burned onto Cd's and filed away in a binder. I was taking some pictures of the chocolate chip cookies the girls and I had made and this little hand creeped up and snuck a cookie. In case you were wondering it was Aubrey. They were in their 'piggy jammies' ready for bed. This was their special treat for being such good girls this weekend.

She is really into saying 'lets talk about it'. When I took the camera away and said 'excuse me, what are you doing?' she simply said, 'lets talk about it.' Once again I couldn't help but smile.

Aubrey, Edie and Reagan January 2007

Sisters. Unlike the Christmas card, I got this one in one take. Actually I fired off about 25 shots this one was one of the best. It really shows the girls personalities: Aubrey's silliness, and Edie smiling, always with something in her mouth right now and Reagan loving her baby sister. These dresses are adorable they were from Uncle Moo and Uncle David, the girls love wearing them. We are back in pigtails, I love this look, not long and Edie baby will have enough hair too! I just gave the girls haircuts, I went a little short with the bangs on Reagan, oops. Her hair grows so fast it won't take long for it to be in her face again, she was looking at everything sideways so I figured it was time for Mommy to cut it instead of spending $12-15 for a kids cut!

Edie, January 2007

Teeth!! Yes, Edie finally got her sweet baby teeth. The ones on the top came in first! We were quite surprised to see those little fangs when she smiled one day. The bottom two recently joined this smiling face. She is SO ticklish, it's easy to make her smile! I can't help but smile when she shows her new teeth.

At the same time Aubrey is getting her 2 year molars. There has been a lot of discomfort around here, but the frozen peas and carrots are a real treat for tender gums. The girls helped themselves to the freezer and snacked on these cold veggies. It's been a real treat ever since! Reagan had always been 2 months behind when it came to teething, so 2 out of 3 is OK for now.

Diapers, Diapers, Diapers.........

Grampy and MeMe thank you for the diapers!

This should get us by for a while. Shaws was dicontunuing this line of Daipers and they were on sale between $3 and $5 a package. What a bargain! Reagan is almost potty trained,

she is doing a great job. Aubrey is getting interested in it again

too, so we are on the right path to big girl pants!! This will be a

huge money saver for us. We go through about 15-20 diapers a day between

the three of them. We appreciate it!

A loving husband, and three beautiful girls I can't help but smile. We've worked hard. There has been a lot of fun, heartache and triumph over the last 3+ years.

Have you seen those country/folk art type of signs? They are these long wooden planks that are usually distressed. They usually have some sort of cute or spiritual quote/saying/hymn on them. We have had one hung at the bottom of our stairs since we moved into our house in 2001. Simply stated it says, Surprise Me.

Each day it greets me as I come down the stairs, and for reasons known and unknown it makes me smile. I know each day will yield some sort of adventure big or small. Through the eyes of a child everyday is a surprise, I have the pleasure of witnessing this each and every day. Being blessed with twins sometimes the same things are seen differently. Although they are twins they unmistakably different and unique little girls. It makes me see things for the first time again through their eyes. This sign is just a little token to remind me anything can happen, so go ahead... Surprise me.

Here is our smiling Edie Baby. This is her temperment. She is loving and happy and greets you with a smile. She is our special gift.
History: In October of 2006 Edie was diagnosed with a redundant colon. Her colon has extra length wich causes her to have severe discomfort when she is trying to go potty. She suffered for some time. Her formula was changed, she was given stool softeners, laxatives, karo syrup, Probiotics, and massage, we thought we had tried everything. Finally our Gastroenterologist suggested she has a barium enema and an X ray to help in diagnosing her. There we saw her trouble and since we have been guided in the right direction. She is on Nutramigen formula and a restricted diet. She has no starches or binding foods.
Diet: Edie is doing well. She still smiles through all of her discomfort. Currently she is eating plenty of fruits and veggies. She has a healthy appetite. She eats 3 stage 2 fruits/veggies at lunch and dinner. She is still taking 3tsp Miralax/ Polyethylene Glycol powder daily. It seems to be the only thing that helps move things along for her. She still struggles, but not with the intensity we had seen.
Development: She is doing well, she can sit up for 1 or 2 minutes by herself, and is starting to 'army crawl' . We know her core strength is delayed from her gastric issues, (she was so uncomfortable when she was smaller she didn't want to move because of the discomfort). So we are making sure she gets plenty of exercise every day. She had no trouble rolling to where she wants to go!!

We are sooooo 2!!

They are fraternal twins. They are uniquely different. They have some things in common, thankfully their sleep and eating schedule. Reagan (with the hat on) is my singer. She sings everything. She'll hear a song once and remember the chorus or some the lyrics. She loves her music, and she loves her little plastic animals, especially the little piggies. She loves her water baby that Grampa Dennis gave her, but most of all, She loves her pink taggie that her MeMe made her. She can not go anywhere without it.

Aubrey is my dancer. She has been able to pick the rhythm and beat out of a song since she was born. Maybe it was all that music I played to my belly when they were restless at 3am. It always calmed them and I could get some sleep. She feels the music and does a little dance. She has a harmonica she loves to play, and moves her feet and arms to any beat she can hear. She'll tune right in. She also loves her purple taggie, she is a bit more comfortable without during the day, but it's a must at night, along with music, books, babies, toys, animals, blankets, and anything else she can smuggle into bed.

Through thick and thin in a short 2 yrs they are the best of friends and yes they do say things at the same time with the same tone. There are some things they are very in sync about. They do jibber jabber and giggle and run into the other room. They 'try' to sing duets together but it turns into a competition on who can sing louder. They are still in cribs but not for long. They know how to get out, but I think for once they enjoy their own space.

We are growing every day, it's amazing seeing the world through thier eyes.