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Thursday, May 10, 2012

Were Walking!

Yesterday mommy got a surprise video at work of her princess walking. We have been expecting this to happen for a while but finally yesterday she decided to take the plunge and started taking unassisted steps. Right now she is only taking a few steps at a time but I am sure in the next week she will be running. It has seemed with other milestones once Riggs realizes she can do something there is no stopping her.


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

12 Months-April 13th, 2012

I can't believe it my babies are ONE!

This last year has been the most amazing time of my life. I always knew I wanted to be a mom but never dreamed it would be this amazing. These two little people have made me such a better person.

Here are some things you have been up to over the last month as you enter into your second year of life.

Jackson:

You weigh 22 pounds 15 ounces (75th percentile), you are 31 inches tall (93rd percentile) and your head circumference is 19 inches (95th percentile). I think your weight was actually a little low at your check up since you had just gotten over hand, foot & mouth-you are much closer to 24 pounds.

You are a big boy who can melt your mommas heart with those sweet eyes! You are wearing 12-18 month clothes, size 5.5 shoes and size 4 diapers. Just before you turned a year we were able to switch you to milk from formula. We were hoping to have you completely off the bottle, we can close but with your birthday illness we digressed a bit. You are such a good eater, you can put away some food and fast. That is one of the times you become angry is when you are hungry! You LOVE goldfish and veggie straws. You are cruising around furniture but have no interest in walking any other way, if we try and hold your hands so you can walk your legs come up at a 90 degree angle. Just like every other milestone you will do it when you are ready. You love to play ball and still have the sweetest laugh in the world. You sleep through the night most of the time, but go through periods where you will get up at some point during the night. We think you have pretty bad seasonal allergies so you are taking zyrtec, we are so thankful you seem to have outgrown your reflux! You don't just give your sister her way anymore your fight back-which I think is good to give her a taste of her own medicine. You do not like the feel of grass and try and touch as little as possible when we place you in the yard. You are such a flirt with ladies of all ages-we are going to have to watch you buddy. You most common nicknames right now are booger and JackJack. You are saying a few words, clapping and starting to wave. You still are at 8 for teeth but I think your 1 year molars will be popping through any day now.

Riggs:

You weigh 21 pounds 2 ounces (70th percentile), you are 30 inches tall (79th percentile) and your head circumference is 18 inches (72nd percentile).

You are crazy! You are into everything all the time, keeping us on our toes. You have started climbing. You actually made it on the end table one day. You are smart too, you will push objects around so you can use them in your latest climbing conquest. I can't believe you are not walking yet. You cruise, walk with hands, everything is a push toy, climb stairs but just won't walk on your own. I think you could but are afraid since you try to scale the baby gate. You went to the sippy cup with no problems, but can't do milk. We have switched you back to formula for a bit and then will try again to see if you just weren't ready for the switch. I never knew how bad milk spit-up smelled. You are wearing size 12 clothes with a few 18 months mixed in for length. I think we are going to have a hard time keeping pants on your tiny booty and waist this summer-so I see lots of dresses in your future. You are wearing size 4.5 shoes and size 3 diapers. We tried to switch you up with JackJack but they were just too saggy. You had a last minute surge with teeth this month and I think the count is now at 7, but you don't like for me to look so I am not 100% sure. You decided at 10pm on your birthday eve that you needed to start clapping. So as you hung out with mommy and daddy while sick you completed this milestone. You have also started waving some. The one new thing that I am not a huge fan of is your new mommy attachment-you are so clingy and never make it through a Sunday in nursery. Also you have started having a whinny cry when you are not getting what you want. You are too young for this little miss. You most common nicknames are Potamus and Little Girl. You are a great sleeper, very seldom do you ever get up once we put you to bed. You don't really like to wear bows anymore, which breaks my heart-I am hoping for a come back soon!

You both are loved so much by your mommy and daddy! You have made this last year so amazing and we are looking forward to many many more with you both.

I was hoping to have pictures before I posted but have not been able to snap them yet so I wanted to go ahead and post and will have to update later!

Monday, May 7, 2012

For MoMs by MoMs-Introduction

Today I am linking up with some fellow MoMs (Moms of Multiples) on their new weekly link up For MoMs by MoMs. I have gotten to know all 4 of these ladies through twitter/blogging and I love them all! I love this idea, there is nothing that has been a greater support to me than other twins moms through the last year.

Easter 2012

Here is a little about me...

I am a working mom of 1 year old twins. They are the light of my life. I have an amazing husband who I have been married to for 5 years, but we have been together for 10. I love the South-I tried living in the north after we got married, it ain't for me. I am a former college athlete who is trying to be a runner. I love my family, friends, blogging, twitter, diet coke, the word y'all, sewing, all things with monograms, the Clemson Tigers, and above all Jesus!

You can read about why I love being a twin mom here and our journey to conceiving twins here. And if you want to meet my twins then cruise through the blog, because it is all about them!

I would love to hear from you so please leave a comment and I can't wait to jump over to your blog to meet more MoMs!


Friday, May 4, 2012

SUYL-New Friends

Today I am linking up with Kelly's Korner for Show Us Your Life. This week the focus is on making new frends-finding other who are like you or even better yet live near you!

So hear is a little about me...

I am a working mom of 1 year old twins. They are the light of my life. I have an amazing husband who I have been married to for 5 years, but we have been together for 10. I love the South-I tried living in the north after we got married, it ain't for me. I am a former college athlete who is trying to be a runner. I love my family, friends, blogging, twitter, diet coke, the word y'all, sewing, all things with monograms, the Clemson Tigers, and above all Jesus!

This blog is a little piece of my life, mostly one to record memories of my babies.

Oh yeah and the Upstate of South Carolina is where we call home.

Let me know if you are from around here, maybe we can have a girls night out blogger meet up!

The Best is Yet to Come!

There are many times in life I have heard enjoy blank these are the best years of your life- including high school, college, your twenties etc. I have often wondered if this was true and in many cases hoped that was not the case. Not to say any of these times were bad, but if they truly were the best, what did I have to look forward to?

I think I can say without a second thought that none of those were the best.

365 days ago I turned 30. I was living a whirlwind of having 2 preemie newborns. I think this day mostly consisted of our sanity providing 3 hour baby feeding schedule, not the glamorous 30th birthday one may dream about, but one that showed the fruition of so many other dreams.

When this year began I thought it was going to be one of survival more than anything, but as I have journeyed through I think I can say without a doubt this has been the BEST year so far.

I have gotten to know and love two of the most amazing people that will ever enter into my life. Being a mommy is something I dreamed about for so long and was a dream some days I was not sure would come true...at least as I planned. (Well actually it didn't happen as I planned but as God did and with anything His plan was so much greater.)

Aaron finished grad school, passed the CPA exam and now is working for a great firm.

I went back to work after 13 weeks home with the twins. This I thought would be one of the hardest things I ever would do. My heart has always longed to be at home with my babies, but for various reasons does not seem the be the right plan for our family right now. I feel God really laid the path to provide amazing childcare for Jackson & Riggs along with a flexible work environment for me to be a working mom. So far this arrangement has worked great for our family.

I will turn 30 weighing 20 pounds less than when I became pregnant-a weight that I have not seen since at least my junior year in college. One year ago I was hoping I would be able to lose the 60 pounds of baby weight I gained through my pregnancy. I never dreamed it would be 80 pounds lighter.

I have started running, I am just one or two more runs away from completing couch to 5K! I ran 3 miles on Thursday-decided I had to do it before I turned 31! I know this might not seem like much to some but for me this is huge. I have always had a mental block against running that stems from my leg issues in college. I had compartment syndrome which meant blood flow was restricted to my feet when my muscles contracted causing my feet to fall asleep and extreme calf cramps. As you can imagine this was awesome since I player soccer at Clemson. My sophomore year I had surgery that fixed this issue, but then had other injuries that prevented me from getting past this block.

I feel this year I have really tired to draw closer to God in the good times and bad. Wanting to know Him more and seek out His will in my life

And most recently I feel God has placed a new calling on my heart, a purpose. This is very recent so I am still trying to seek out His desire for me in this, but I feel so passionate for a cause like I never have before.

While 30 has been the best days of my life so far, I am hopeful the best is yet to come.

So as the clock strikes 3:17 AM on May 5th, 2012 I hope I am starting an even better year yet!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Wordless Wednesday

What item in this picture does not belong?

Whoops!

Perspective

Last night my husband was out of town for work so it was just me and the twins. Normally this would not be a big deal but JackJack decided that he wanted to be awake from 2-5 this morning. I sit at work exhausted but as I thought about this I couldn't help but realize how blessed I am. I know there are so many women who would give anything to be up with a crazy 1 year old half the night as the deal with infertility and loss. I will admit in the moment I did not have this perspective-there was crying and yelling by both Jackson and myself. I was deep in the self pity and frustrated by my longing to sleep. After 2 hours I decided to make the best of it and Jackson and I spent some time with God doing James bible study.



And finally after 3 hours of fun he finally snuggled up to momma and went back to sleep.

I try so hard to remember how greatly God has blessed me even on the sleepless nights. I don't know about you, but I would give up 3 hours of sleep every night if the alternative was not having this cute little boy.

This week my heart has been so heavy for babies. There were many emotional moments for me at the March of Dimes Walk-seeing so many families that lost their littles but fighting on in their memory. Then this week I heard about a friend of a friend whose 2 week old baby died after fighting so hard to overcome a heart defect. Today I read about a blogger who is fighting for her unborn twins after her water broke at just 18 weeks. I know God is in all of these situations and he has a great plan, but my heart aches so much for these people as they have tremendous heartache in a time that is supposed to be so happy.

I think last night God just wanted to give me a little perspective and remind me to not take anything for granted and treasure my twin blessings in the good and tiring moments.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

March for Babies 2012

On Saturday our family was blessed to participate in the 2012 March of Dimes March for Babies with my Moms of Multiples Club. This was our families first year participating, but I hope this is the first of a long tradition for us. This is an organization that plucks on my heart strings. Their mission is to fight for babies and their families. Our formal introduction to them came last year when Jackson and Riggs were admitted to the NICU. Being at this event reminded me how fortunate we truly were during this time and continue to be today. This day was extra special I felt because we were celebrating the one year anniversary of our twins coming home from the hospital!



My cute little redheads!


Other twin families.

More twin families

Riggs & Staci warming up for the big walk!

Twins and donuts, what could be a better combination?

Our littlest twins walkers!

My family ready for the big event.

The March of Dimes did a great job of putting together a fun event for all. They had a band playing in the tailgate area, a bounce house and other fun things for the kids to do. The walk started at 9 and was 4 miles. The kids did pretty well most of the walk but Riggs did get restless and have to be carried some. They then had an after party with more music and FOOD!

Starting Line!

Twins in motion.

Our family after the walk-Riggs was tuckered out.
 I am excited to learn more about this organization and find ways to be a part of the good they do!