Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Savannah

We were in Savannah for the day because I just love it there. We didn't have as much time as I would have liked, so we just did a couple of things that Nicholas would like and they were awesome.
First we spent some time at Forsyth Park. I don't know if it was because the park was so beautiful, or if it was that the weather was perfect, but today at the park with kids riding bikes, and running around, beautiful water fountains, people flying kites, or having picnics, or reading a book while laid out on a blanket in the grass... I'm pretty sure that's exactly what what is like.
Then after the park, we went to the railway museum and Nicholas got to ride with Daddy on a handcart. Then we rode a steam engine around the yard. Nicholas was in little train heaven! It was a blast. We will have to go back soon.
We even got to stop and see Rich & Sammi on the way home.
Here are pictures (in whatever random order my phone decides to post them)

As a side note, you will notice a pic of a random guy... He was kind enough to take our picture on the back of the train after the ride. I was looking through and apparently he was trying to figure out how it worked and didn't realize he took a selfie. It was the cutest thing ever and I couldn't resist posting it. :)









































































Saturday, March 16, 2013

To Moms

I am sort of fired up about this.

People! Stop judging each other, and try encouraging each other instead! One thing I have found about other moms of twins is that usually when I meet a new one randomly (at a mall, or park, or dr office) one of the first things they do is offer me words of encouragement. "You are doing a great job!" Even though they don't know me, and they don't know about my mothering successes, and breakdowns, they get it.

Where is this coming from? Well, some person decided to write a well-meant reminder to moms everywhere on their "iPhones." If you haven't read it, and decide you want to, do so at your own risk. In my opinion all it does is serves up a big fat dish of guilt that I just don't have time for. This person wrote a response to it that is much more worth reading:

http://growinginashrinkingculture.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/in-defense-of-the-iphone-mom/

If you are still in a reading mood, this is another great post by someone that I think EVERYONE can benefit from:

http://www.stevewiens.com/2013/03/12/to-parents-of-small-children-let-me-be-the-one-who-says-it-out-loud/

Now excuse me while I go take my daily dose of Zoloft.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Museum outing

We had such a fun family day today. We started off taking some flowers to Nicholas Harrell's grave. Then we got some barbecue for lunch. After that we headed to the Natural History Museum on campus. They have some fun exhibits, and a hands on activity center, as well as a butterfly "rainforest."






































Saturday, March 2, 2013

Will crawling

Will is finally crawling! Although I suspect he knew how a while ago, but chose not to because the army crawl was easier. He would take a couple of crawling steps and then plop onto his belly. Now he has decided to crawl and is going everywhere that his brothers go. :)


Monday, February 25, 2013

Nicknames & Anecdotes

Today has been both a good day and a bad day. Good because I held my temper pretty well today, and have had a lot of fun with my boys. Bad for most of the usual reasons... And a headache.
I complain a lot, I think... It's probably a coping mechanism for all of the stress of having twin babies and an incorrigible three year old. Maybe not the healthiest of coping methods, I don't know. Someone ask Dr Phil and get back to me. But although I have adopted this honest approach of dealing with my early motherhood, I would rather have twins than no children and I know that some people don't get the chance to have kids. I don't take it for granted for a second. I wasn't sure if I would be able to have kids for a while and didn't know if I would this time around either so I experienced a small piece of that, and don't want to be misunderstood. With that said, I also want to write a few things down while they are in my head because it is kind of difficult to fully appreciate these little things now and I don't want them to get lost in my chaos.
Let's start with nicknames, because if you know us, you know it is one of our favorite pastimes. :)
Nicholas: Nicky-Boo, Nicky-BooBooBoo, Hinky Punk, Stinky Punk, Punky Monkey, Cute Boy, Hinky Stink, Nickus, Buggy, Bugga-Bear
James: Jammer, Jim-Jam, Squeaker, Squeaky Punk, Jam Man
Will: Willibuster, Buster, Bammer, Chunky Monkey, Chunky Punk, Squish, Squish-Squash

Somehow they know when we are talking to them, and answer (or look at us) to all of the above (respectively).

Nicholas still takes 3-4 hour naps in the afternoons most days. We are pretty lucky there. He still likes to listen to classical music to fall asleep. The babies seem to respond better to Enya, and Jars of Clay. They fall asleep pretty well to that, and I have pulled it out many times on my phone lately. I usually end up having to rock at least one of them to sleep in my arms to get them both in their beds. Sometimes I have to rock one to sleep, and then the next one so they don't wake each other back up again. Sometimes I can appreciate their sweet little sleepiness in my arms and sometimes I can't. Right now I am telling myself that I need to put this sleeping James in his crib because as snugly as he is in my arms right now, he will only sleep so long.
The cutest thing they do right now is when they are tired. They will crawl to their blankies (Will's is yellow, Jammer's is green) and basically smash their faces into them on the floor. Then they just lay there and close their eyes for a few seconds like they just found a piece of heaven.
James is a funny eater, he likes to grab handfuls of cereal and puffs off his tray and smash as many as he can in his mouth at once. He needs tray refills twice as fast as Will because of this.
Will likes to sing, and if you sing to him he'll usually sing back. He just opens his mouth and says "ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"
James squeaks like a mouse and when he's mad he squeals like a pig.
Will likes to snuggle with strangers, it takes him a couple of seconds to get assurance from me that he's ok with that person holding him and then he'll lay his head down right on their shoulder. He makes a lot of friends that way.
Now that Will is scooting around better, he and James are little partners in crime. They follow each other all over the living room getting into all sorts of trouble, playing with boxes, standing up on chair legs, and playing with the trash can.
Will likes to play boxes and anything that makes noise when he bangs it with his hands. He thinks it's so fun. He is a little drummer like Nicholas was. I think James will be a guitar player or something instead.
That's about all I have for right now, if you made it this far, congrats. You are probably a grandparent. :)












Sunday, February 24, 2013

A boy and his horse



February in Florida

We were back up in the 80's yesterday so we got some Five Guys and went to the park. I put the babies on a blanket thinking they wouldn't like the grass on their feet (because Nicholas never did) but they were not shy about that grass at all!
Nicholas made lots of fun new friends and played tag and hide and go seek.
It was also the babies's first time in the swings, so I put them both in one swing. They loved it, and stayed in there for maybe fifteen minutes. When James started to nod off I figured it was probably time to head home :)













































Welcome!