Bookstore Date

Friday Aaron and I got out for a much needed date night. Staci was sweet enough to watch the twins so we could get away for a bit. We wanted to do something fun and cheap that would not keep us out late. I started looking at numerous blogs to find ideas and finally decided on a Bookstore Date. I found many great ideas for this and finally decided to use the below list for adventure.

Unfortunately I don't remember which site this came from to give the appropriate credit.

 

 

 We grabbed a quick bite to eat at Chipotle and then headed over to Barnes and Nobles for a little fun.


Here is how our rounds played out...

Round 1:
We both chose the same recipe from the Soby's cookbook-Pork Tenderloin. Soby's is a locale restaurant that has published an amazing cook book, this is one of our favorite places to go when we are looking for a special night out. The pork is both of ours favorites so I was not surprised that was the case.

For the future date night we both picked games, Aaron a book on how to play Poker and I found some fun card games in the center section. I had a hard time finding date idea books so I had to be creative.

For the final event of this round Aaron picked a book that had accountant jokes which was appropriate since he is in the midst of taking the CPA exam and looking for a job as a public accountant. I found a book of jokes about family things-nothing great but we had fun reading through some of them

After round 1 the bookstore started to get a little crowded and also they were putting in a new fixture in the middle of the store so things were very discombobulated. We played a modified round 2.

Round 2:
Picture of a place we would like to visit. I picked Italy. Aaron ran out of time before finding one but he says he was thinking Italy as well.

Children's Book.
Aaron picked Shel Silversteins Light in the Attic I wish we had more time where we could have set and read some of the poems, maybe next time. I picked Go Dog Go. I can't say this was my favorite book as a child but in a recent conversation between us Aaron said he had never heard of it much to my dismay. I did learn something new...I thought this was a Seuss book but learned that is not the case.

After this we decided it was time to head home to rescue Staci and put our little bits to bed. We had fun just hanging out and being silly.

I can't wait to have another date night. What is something fun you  have done on a date before?

6 Months 10.13.11

I really cannot believe you are 6 months old already. I never thought that these months would go by so fast. We love you more and more everyday but some days I feel time is passing by too quickly and I am not getting to soak up all I want of every stage.

Jackson

You smile is infectious. You cut your eyes and give that toothy grin and we just melt. You have the best laugh in the world, you are such a giggler. You are still content just hanging out. You have not found the need to roll over yet, but I think if you really tried you could. You are so strong-I think you do crunches in your sleep. You absolutely love the jump-a-roo, that is the one place you go crazy! While you are not rolling over you are trying hard to sit. You can do the tri-pod for a minute or two-which according to the doctor is more advanced than rolling. Your two bottom teeth came in this month and they are absolutely adorable, they are also very sharp. You drew blood on Auntie Staci. You are wearing 3-6 month/6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. You are eating 6 ounces every 3 hours. We have not started solids but are doing that with the start of this next month. You are sleeping through the night but are not a great napper. You have had a rough bout with your reflux this month. We had to take you to the doctor before your well visit and you are now taking Prevacid. I am praying so hard this works-it literally breaks my heart to watch you cry in pain. You are starting to be more interested in Riggsy, I hope you two are best friends. You are turning into such a big boy, I look at your face and the little baby is gone, you are so handsome. You have grown a ton over these last two months and are doing so well for being a little preemie.

Here are your 6 month stats:

Weight: 17 pounds 7 ounces 50%
Length: 27.5" 78%
Head Circumference: 17.25" 65%

Riggs

You are our comic relief in life. You are all smiles, we are really going to miss your gummy grin when your teeth come in. You LOVE to talk, I can carry on an entire conversation with you. This month you decided that you really like to eat your clothes and spit, neither of which we were very happy about. You are never still, we lay you down in one place and we come back and you are on the other side of the mat facing a completely different direction. You still move nonstop. You are a wild sleeper, there is always something hanging out of your crib. You are like your momma when you get tired at night you can fall asleep anywhere. You are consistently waking up at 4am but you eat quickly and go right back to sleep. You are eating 6 ounces every 3 hours just like brother. This month you have decided you want to be helpful! Unfortunately it ends up being quite the opposite in many cases-especially feeding time. You are so interesting in everything and everyone-you light up a room with your happy personality. You are trying to figure it all out. Your hand coordination is amazing I love to watch you find something you want and get it. Everything goes in your mouth now. You have been teething for a while but no teeth yet. You drool nonstop. Your clothes are always soak and wet. You are wearing 3-6 month/6 month clothes and size 2 diapers (you probably could still be in size 1-2). You are long and lean, I have noticed some of your dresses are getting a little short on you, daddy does not approve of short dresses-even with bloomers.

Here are your 6 month stats:

Weight: 13 pounds 13 ounces 45%
Length: 27.25" 94%
Head Circumference: 16.5" 42%

Jumping Jackson

Jackson loves his Jump-A-Roo. We really thought Riggs would be our jumper and she does enjoy it but Jackson goes crazy in it. We love to watch him go crazy-he has some strong quads. This weekend I was able to catch a little bit of his fun on video.

There is a funny story that goes along with this night. After Jackson was done jumping it was time for his last bottle and then it was off to bed. As Aaron fed him he noticed that Jackson smelled dirty. He went to change his diaper and there didn't seem to be much there...well as he lifted him to wipe he found more and the higher you lifted him the more you found. I guess while Jackson was going crazy jumping he was also doing his business and had poop up to his neck by the time he was done. Needless to say there was an unexpected bedtime bath that night.

Pumkintown, Low Country Boil & More

We had a busy weekend full of many fun family activities. We opted not to go to Clemson for homecoming and partake in those festivities but had many other options to make it excited. Be warned this is a post of many many pictures!

Saturday morning started out slow as Aaron went to work for a bit and I stayed home and played with my favorite twins, did laundry and made pumpkin bread.

Riggs on their new play mat.

Dueling Jump-A-Roos!

 Later in f the afternoon the Wiggains came to our house then we headed out to the Pumkintown festival. Yes there is really a town in South Carolina named Pumpkintown.

 It was a cultural experience to say the least. We were not sure what to expect and I think that is a good thing because I cam not sure this is what we would have pictured. There were a few pumpkins but not many. Mostly it was vendors set up at tents selling their goods. There was everything from smocked dress to marshmallow shooters to redneck wine glasses (a mason jar turned into a wine glass-as they lady said it had a lid so no open container!). Oh I should have taken more pictures. In the entertainment area there was square dancing, blue grass and pole climbing. I have never seen more shirts talking about ammo or had more smoke blown in my sweet babes face (I protected them best I could). I have to say may favorite ignorant people making fun of Jackson's helmet. I think it was better that momma was not around and daddy had him when this happened. All in all we still had fun on our outing to Pumpkintown.

After this we headed over to a couple's condo that we go to church with for a low country boil. It was amazing.

They put this on for our home builders group (the 20 and 30 somethings) and we had so much fun-there were about 50 of us in attendance and we put a major hurtin' on the food. Tommy and Melinda were so generous to to provide this for us.

Riggs had a rough night Saturday night and was screaming (I mean screaming) when it was time to go to bed. I am not sure if it was teething or her tummy but I was finally about to get her to settle down but laying her face down on my legs. After doing this she was out in about 5 seconds. I thought this picture was too funny not to post.

Sunday we got and headed to church for a time of praise and worship. We were there a little early so I snapped some pictures of the twins in their class. I love that we have such a great children's program and the babies are able to start learning about Jesus at such a young age.

That afternoon we made a last minute decision to head over to the Clemson Church of Christ annual pig pickin'. This where Aaron and I went to church in college and the first few years after we moved back to SC. It was so great to see so many of our friends and of course to be able to show off the twins to many we have not seen since they were born. The food and fellowship was great and Jackson and Riggs got to ride a real pony.

Delicious Chicken!

Jackson on his pony ride.

Riggs on her pony ride.

Riggs telling Daddy she wants a pony!

The double twin hold is getting a lot harder as they get bigger.

 We had a fun weekend full of many great activities. We are going to rest up this weekend because next is even busier. What did you do this weekend?

Pumpkin Bread

Happy Fall Y'all!

One of my favorite things to do in the fall is to make pumpkin bread. I think about this all year but it just doesn't seem right any other time of the year. So this Saturday I made my first of the season. It was so yummy and I can't wait to make other pumpkin inspired treats this season.

Here is the recipe I use-I am not sure where it originally came from but it sure is yummy.

All the ingredients ready to go!

Mix the following 4 ingredients in mixer:

4 Eggs
1 Can of Pumpkin (16 oz)
1 Cup of Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup of Water

Sift the following 6 dry ingredients together:

3 1/3 Cups of Flour
2 tsp. of Baking Soda
1 tsp. of Baking Powder
1 tsp. of Cinnamon
1 tsp. of Nutmeg

Add 2 2/3 Cups of Sugar to the dry ingredients.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together in mixer.

Add 1 tsp. of Vanilla

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes in 2 9x5 greased pans.


Enjoy!!!

Jackson's Helmet Update

On Tuesday Jackson had is first scan since getting his helmet-you can read about the first appointment here. Aaron and I have felt he was making great progress so we were excited to see where he was measuring.

Aaron took him for this appointment and called me after to tell me his head differential was at 11.7mm and the orthotist could not be happier with his progress. To put this into perspective 0-5mm is considered normal, 5-10 is mild, 10-15 is moderate and anything above 15 is sever. Jackson we around a 19-20 when we started this process and in 6 weeks he is almost in the mild category. They did tell Aaron they don't think he will have as drastic process over the next few weeks but think they can get him to around a 6. We were so excited to see his helmet is helping make the improvements we were hoping for. They also said once he gets to an 8 it is up to us if he needs to continue to wear it. I think at this point we are of the opinion that if he is not rolling and such we will keep it on him. Also we want to get it as low as possible so if he does regress any then it well still be in the mild category.

We are so thankful for this medical intervention to help reshape our little buddy's head. We are also amazed with how well he has handles this. It has not seemed to bother him one bit and it has given little girl a new infatuation-she loves his helmet.

Apple Orchard

Yesterday I took the day off of work and we headed up into the NC Mountains to the Sky Top Apple Orchard-it was only about an hour drive from our house. Several of our friends had made the trip recently and so I wanted to go experience the fun with my family. 

There were rows and rows of apple trees where you could pick your favorite type-Granny Smith, Macs, Fugi etc. We picked about 5 pounds worth and had fun walking around the orchard.

Jackson and Riggs even helps us pick a few apples. They were so good the entire day and the weather was perfect for this outting.

 One of the best parts of the day was it was cheap we packed our lunch and only bought a few things. I think in total we spent $10 on apples and apple butter, oh yeah I can't forget the delicious cinnamon sugar apple doughnut-it was amazing!

They had a small patch of pumpkins which were great for getting some cute pictures of the twins. They did great. We did have a nose dive by Riggs as we were trying to prop them up for the pictures-you can see the aftermath below.

Our Stud Muffin!

Sweet Girl!

Nose dive aftermath.

We were trying to get Jackson to look at the camera, I guess I frightened him a bit when I pull his head back.

It was such a fun family day and I can't wait until next year when the twins are old enough to really enjoy the orchard!

2 Little Heart Beats

One year ago today my husband and I we sitting at the doctor's office waiting for our first ultrasound to see the baby we had longed for. The ultrasounds started and immediately we knew something was different. I don't remember the doctors exact comment but it was something along the lines of that is interesting and my immediate response was there are two aren't there? His quick response was that we should play the lottery as there was less than a 6% chance this would be the outcome with the medication I had taken. I really don't remember much else from the ultrasound. I know we saw two healthy hearts beating and I am sure we heard them but for the rest of the appointment I was digesting the amazing news we had just been given.

Aaron and I had a quick lunch at Burger King after the appointment and then he had to go to school. He called me on his way there and asked me if that had really happened. It took a while for it to sink it but it is definitely the most amazing thing that has ever happened to us.