I *heart* Moms!

***edited to add: My phone is safe. It actually fell out of my pocket in their bedroom.

As usual as things heat up on the mom front I gain a whole new level of respect for Mommies everywhere. Eli was throwing up most of the night last night and just fell asleep. Alex was up most of the time too because he is sick with a cold but also because it is hard to clean a child's sheets, clothes, and your own clothes, and allow anyone else in the entire household to rest. Jared is off to work and despite my lack of sleep I would have paid money to go with him. Poor Eli is so pitiful. :( I seriously don't know how people do this. I am impressed that other Moms live to tell about it. I am actually MORE impressed that they don't tell the ENTIRE universe that they conquered a case of the pukies AND survived without having a nervous breakdown of some sort. I am on my 5th outfit since 4am as is Eli and he is on his 3rd set of sheets AND my couch cushion covers are being laundered as we speak. Wow, this is hard stuff. On top of all this I am not sure where my cell phone is. I grabbed it as I ran down to launder clothes so that I could hear it if the Dr. called but I cannot find it now. I have this strange fear that it is being "laundered". I really hope not but it would be a funny thing to add to my day. I guess I should go and see if my phone is dried and pressed yet. I guess I should also grab some sleep while both the boys are sleeping! If NONE of this post makes sense I blame the fact that I have been up since 2am.

He's on the go!

He did it ! Eli took 4 steps...4 steps!! The boys are 19 months old and while I reiterate to everyone that they are doing incredibly, well developmentally and that although they are not walking, they are within a normal range, blah, blah, blah, a little part of me is going "hmm, I really hope he gets it soon". Well he did it just like we knew he could. He is SO excited! He actually stands and is so proud of himself that he starts to giggle uncontrollably and when he catches his balance after a good laugh he then takes his steps. It is the funniest thing to watch. We are overwhelmed by these milestones that our little 27 weekers are hitting. We have been enjoying their laughs and giggles all weekend long and just feeling so grateful that God gave us these little guys and let us keep them even though we weren't always sure we would be able to. There are days that are very trying, as I am sure all parents can attest to, but it is the moments like these that just make every one of those less "glamorous" moments fade into the background. My biggest laugh today was when Eli grabbed the syrup pitcher at the restaurant and tried to drink it like a sippy cup. He was so confused when we took it away from him. :) I LOVE that, those side splitting moments that God gives us.

Lots of memories=Little Blogging

I find that the busiest times in my life, that are filled with the boys doing lots of new things, are also the times that I don't find the time I'd like to write about it. Oh well, such is life and I've been enjoying the living of it. :) I have no idea where to begin so I will start with BIG news. Eli is standing on his own and has been for a week(ish). (The "ish" part of that statement allows me some wiggle room because to be honest I am not completely sure when it first happened). Moving on.....he is very proud of himself and it is adorable. I will try and snag a pic of it but as is typical in this house when I get the camera ready he will collapse onto the floor with all the humility he can muster and stop doing whatever it is he was so proudly doing before seeing the camera. Alex is completely.obessessed.with. his "Baby Bible". My sister, Molly laughed at me when she heard me utter the words "No, Alex I am not going to read your Baby Bible to you right now!" I know it sounds evil but it is a story book (a very cute one actually) filled with several songs and then followed by several prayers. It is the type of thing that is to be read and enjoyed one or two at a time but not for Alex. He wants to read it front to back and is lately hooked on "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and do not even TRY and turn the page after singing it a mere 5 times in a row because the protesting will begin and you will find it hard to understand how God actually manages to TRULY "love the little children, all the children of the world". He is a gracious God and I am glad the he puts up with all of us even the screeching ones. :) I read the entire thing front to back approximately 10 times today. No, I am not exaggerating. I do love to hear them lift their little voices and sing about how much Jesus loves them and I soak that in on a regular basis and feel incredible blessed to be able to do it so I am not really complaining.



Jared and I went Christmas shopping this week ALONE, together. We had a great time and had fun picking out presents. It was amusing, as it involved my husband and a motorized shopping cart (due to his ankle injury). Woohoo let the good times roll (literally). There is nothing like the beep, beep, beep, of one of those bad boys to set the mood for a romantic evening! :) We are enjoying getting ready for the holidays and are actually attempting to "craft". Yes, I said it! Anyone who knows me is laughing right now BUT I saw the idea for a "Jesse Tree" on one of the blogs I frequent and thought it sounded great so Jared and I set out to make felt ornaments like these. We are still in the process but I just thought it would be a great way to help focus ourselves and the boys (in the future when they can understand) on Christmas being about Christ's birth and what that means in our daily lives. I will update you on that one because honestly, Jared is probably the more crafty one in the marriage. He would probably choose a word other than crafty but he is meticulous and I am not (as I have mentioned several times on this blog). My palms start to sweat when I hear the word "scrapbook". I love all things crafty if I get to admire other's handiwork but it is just not in my genes. The craftiest thing I have done lately is staple paper rings together for the countdown until Jared gets his mobility back. I needed the visual reminder. We also put up the tree last night and it lasted an entire day and no one knocked it down or broke any of the ornaments. SUCCESS! So that is the latest in the vignettes that are my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The last couple of weeks have been "interesting" and I am being shown in each moment of my day how extremely blessed I am to have a husband who is a shared partner in this parenting thing. We found out Tuesday that he will be off of his feet for 4 more weeks. I am comfortable (well, for the most part) in admitting that, YES, I have been overwhelmed. You see Jared not only helps parent he also cleans. I mean, seriously, the boy can organize like nobody's business and he's been know to help vacuum, wash dishes, do the trash (that I do not like to do), take all (16 bags) of the leaves out to the curb (I have to pat myself on the back for accomplishing that one), pump the gas and bring home the bacon and...well, the man has limits, he does not cook nope not even bacon. Regardless, I am spoiled and love it although I am not sure that I realized how much he was doing until the injury. I will not pretend that it is a lesson that I am skipping my way through and enjoying but I am aware that it is an important lesson none the less. This week, however, all of "the cousins" entered my world and blessed me greatly.

We had a few get togethers with Jared's family this past week and I realized how much I need some older children :) Everyone says how great it is that I had twins first because I don't know any different and typically I agree, however I am realizing I would Kill (maybe that is a bit extreme, maybe) for a teen of my own (minus the teenage angst) right about now. Let me paint a picture for you. I pull up to Nana and Papas and prepare to take the boys into the condo by myself, one at a time, and then lug in all of our belongings that go along with our dear children. But wait, what is that in the distance? Could it be....5, yes 5, glorious figures waiting for us so that they can carry my children and our belongings into the house, get them out of their coats, shoes, hats, gloves AND THEN, dear friends, yes, it does get better.....ENTERTAIN twin, 19 month old, boys for hours people, HOURS! This happened not once, but 3 times in the course of this past week and I am THANKFUL. All of the aunts and uncles and grandparents helped also and it was greatly appreciated but I am just impressed with young people being such servants. You go Amanda, Andrew, Nathaniel, Allie and Teddy! You are huge blessings to me!

Contentment

At church, yesterday, the message was about contentment. If you were to ask me whether or not I am content I would answer with a resounding YES! 1) because I know I am supposed to be (yep, I am the queen of "Sunday School Answers") and 2) because I truly feel the most content I have ever been in my life. This is not always apparent however in my day to day life? We are in such a consumer driven world and the idea of MORE permeates our lives on a daily basis. In order for me to stay content I definitely have to remind myself, often, of how blessed I am personally and how blessed we are in this country. Unfortunately, my heart of gratitude can be fickle. Some days a little freezing rain can steal my gratitude while other days it is just a cranky child (well, two actually) or a "something" (today it was a nanny AND a housekeeper) that I NEED. This is one of the reasons that I was so encouraged by the message yesterday. I thought one of the best points was that contentment has to be learned. We don't wake up feeling content but it can be learned.

Alex and Eli won't understand much about thanksgiving this year, although I know they will enjoy the food but in the future I hope to creatively remind my children that there is MUCH to be thankful for, not only on holidays, but daily. So, today, even if they are only thankful for the fact that they got to use crayons to make turkeys (they were thrilled and did not give them up willingly) I guess it is a step in the right direction. May we all learn to be content with what God has given us today.

Winter Outings

I have been thinking since Spring about inexpensive winter outings. The boys are pretty easy to please but I have found that after a few days in the house they are a little, let's see, how should I put this........?, annoying? O.K. that is a bit harsh "challenging". :) I love my children dearly and feel beyond blessed that I have the privilege to be home with them but let's face it they can get a little squirrely, while in hibernation, as can I. So today we hit Target (for Mommy) and then Barnes & Noble to play with their train set. They had a great time and this is definitely one of our free (minus the Target "necessities") outings we will be going on this Winter. The other sanity savers are the Henry Ford museum and story time at the library. I hope to come up with more but this is a great start and Jared and I also set up a pretty cool play room for them in the basement that has allowed me time on the treadmill (which is desperately needed) and I am caught up on laundry (while in the basement it is difficult to avoid it's beckoning stares so I gave in). I guess so far Winter is going well, which is great since it officially STARTS in about a month from now (Dec 21st).

Then again, maybe Alex has the best idea of all. We will just cuddle up under a blanket and read some classics. (This morning he climbed into the rocker with a book and wanted me to put the blanket over his legs.)

19 months

It seems like I just sat down to write the 18 months post but it was a month ago and here I am again, the day after (oops), you turned 19 months to write what the two of you crazy boys are up to.

Alex you are beginning to walk but definitely prefer the crawling method because you are scary fast when you crawl. You have also gotten a bit more adventurous with your climbing which makes my heart skip a beat but I am determined to let you explore (within reason). You are also starting to sing little tunes that I am not familiar with but I love to hear you sing every note in your sweet voice. You are STILL loving your newborn pacifier and I am hoping to break you of it by kindergarten (yes, I have set my standards quite high). You continue to love sleep and last night as I cleaned your room before bed you just gave up and laid down with your binky and blanket. I felt like you were saying "Mom, can you just do this tomorrow? I've had quite a day and I am exhausted."

Eli, you are cruising around with your walking toy and getting really good at it. I am sure you will be walking soon. You demand to be walked over to the refrigerator after each meal so that you can look at the pictures and you let me know that you want to do this by saying "Eli, Daddy, Eli, Daddy". There are pictures of everyone up there but you and Daddy seem to be the focus. I was careful previously to use the word, demand, because that defines you right now. You are pretty demanding but we take the fits as they come and I am sure you will eventually learn that, that is not the way to get things done. You do this funny thing at the end of each song. When we sing "Oh, How I Love Jesus" and the "A,B,C's" they both end with "Me" and I end them by doing a dramatic "me-EEEE". Well you now add this "EEEE" to the end of every song. For instance, "Jesus Loves Me" end with "the Bible tells me so" and you sing "tells me so-EEEE"! It is so cute and now Alex does the same thing.

These are, as usual, just a few of your new activities. I feel so blessed every evening as I crawl into bed and think of the funny, and even the not so funny, things you've done throughout the day. Daddy and I love you guys! Happy 19 months!