Lucy and Dad's favorite activity...

Indoors and out. Year round. This girl loves chess and I love her. She's good but uses her charm to cheat ;-)

Andrew

Observation: Filthy. The New Age of Vision!

So everyone always has a story to tell about when their kid first got glasses... Tonight, Lucy and I were doing her Sunday School (online) because we forgot to do it last Sunday. We sat down on the couch and I pulled up the website. She scooted up beside me, slid her glasses on and said, "Man! Dad! This computer screen is filthy... How am I going to be able to read anything?!?"

So... there it is folks. Glasses can 1) make you see better and 2) make you highly critical of your parents utter neglect for the cleanliness of their family laptop screen.

lol... what a stinkin' cutie.

Andrew

Pretty much Molly

Ever take a random picture during the day and think, "that pretty much explains [fill in the kids name] most of the calendar year"?

Yup. Pretty much Molly.

Andrew

Shocked and amazed...

This activity continued for at least 20 min the other night and DIDN'T end in tears. I know, you're as shocked as me!

I would've told them to get off the tables but I repeat... (and swear)... this truly didn't end in tears.

I know. You don't believe me! :-) I'll get video next time!

Andrew

Goodnight Texas

On my way home from work... Sunset over the lake. Had to pull over and soak this one in for a minute.

Andrew

Bucketheads

So the only reason this went from cute to scary was they SOMEHOW snuck up behind me TOTALLY quiet. Any activity involving all three is NEVER quiet. I think the had to walk and be slow to balance their buckets... so I almost had a heart attack when I turned around and saw them standing in absolute silence. Creepy.

-dad

Claire Faustina - Full of the Holy Spirit!

Raspberries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqHmxzYDCWA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Accomplice...

Phobble...

Max night out!

Max @ the Smiths! "What's up there and how do I get up there...."

Only a matter of time....

like a canker

It's 11pm and I'm sitting in bed on Andrew's cell phone with a mouthful of lidocaine and liquid benadryl. What better to do than blog?

I love my boys like crazy, but I blame them for the mess I'm in. I have dealt with auto-immune disorders for 20 years and having babies sort of threw it all into overdrive for me. After Claire, my colitis took off. After the boys...mouth ulcers.

Since about a month after welcoming our sweet boys, I have dealt with flaring mouth ulcers every month. That's 11 months of canker sores. I usually get 5-10 at a time and a normal bout last for almost two weeks. Sometimes more.

Right now I have 6 and have been in this current flare for three weeks. One on the inside of my upper lip, one opposite that on the bottom, one where my tongue meets my throat, two under my tongue and one on the inside of my cheek.

We know it's autoimmune, we don't know exactly why they're non-stop. Canker sores are not a virus like herpes (cold sores) and cannot be spread from person to person. They just hurt like hell. They're often from stress, injury, allergies or some unknown cause. They also run in the family, which is part of the reason I'm blogging this now. There is a very good chance one of the kids will have them, and being able to reference my own recordings may help.

When I smile, talk, eat, laugh, kiss my kids, sleep on my side, wash my face, brush my teeth, bump into a baby face or drink, they're there. All day long, the pain nags at me. There is no pain more irritating than facial pain. Ugh. It feel like biting your tongue 200 - 300 times a day. You know when you stab your gums with a piece of a tortilla chip and you just grab your face and moan? That. All day.

I am so blessed to have a husband who understands the pain and still forces me to laugh through it. Tonight I was so tired of talking and moving my mouth and he came at me anyway, knowing I'd rather laugh with him than sit with the pain. He made me laugh til I cried, but I can put the pain aside. What I can't put aside is the chance to make memories with him.

On Monday I see a rheumatologist. I am so, so excited. My PCP seems to think I have Behcet's Disease. That would be bad news, but we could deal with it. At this point, we just need help solving the puzzle. I'll be spending this weekend working on a detailed medical history and I hope to come home Monday with some ideas.

I am tired, but I'm not a complainer. I can deal with the pain, and I know I could deal with a lot more pain. I'm pretty hardcore. But if there is an explanation behind these and a way to fix them, I'd be all about that. Life is so fun and there are so many reasons to smile, laugh and kiss. It doesn't feel fair that the actions associated with love and happiness should cause so much pain. Mama needs her smile back, y'all!

Alrighty. This girl is all numbed up with someplace to go. Time to hit the hay and rest up for the weekend. :-)

Next stop, Nobel!

Lucy was selected by her teacher and recognized school-wide (with a popsicle and popcorn party) for demonstrating exceptional character and listening skills during the first 9 weeks of 1st grade!

Next stop, Nobel Prize!

Side note: she's about 12 hours away from losing one of her front teeth!!

telling the world about the twins.

I was just watching YouTube videos with Mo and realized that the months surrounding the boys' conception and the announcement cthat we were having twins is a little bit of a blur. Telling our friends and family was so FUN, and I want to record it here to keep in our memories.

We moved into our house in 2011, right after Claire was born. One evening that fall, I was sitting at the table with the girls and looked across the table and so clearly saw two little boys. They were about 4 years old. It was strange to me then that they were two of the same boy. For weeks after that, I felt so weird walking through the dining room. The vision of those boys stuck with me like crazy and I knew it was just a matter of time until my boys were sitting there.

We were not trying to get pregnant last year. We were really enjoying the girls and decided to wait until Claire was about 3 to get pregnant again.

On April 21st of last year, I realized I'd been acting insane and crying like crazy over all sorts of silly things. So I did what any sane woman would do. I told Andrew I was pregnant. He said, "Right, okay, you're not pregnant." So I promised myself that I'd wait until Monday. If Monday arrived and I still thought I was pregnant, I'd take a test.
I spent that Sunday analyzing my symptoms and trying to decide how to tell Andrew I was really pregnant. I figured I'd just email him like I'd done for the last two.
On Monday morning, we ran out to the store and I bought a digital pregnancy test. I took it asap and left it on the counter. I ended up getting busy with other things and noticed it sitting there about 15 minutes later. When I saw that it said "pregnant," I hyperventilated and sent Andrew an email of vindication.

He was, of course, tickled to death. We celebrated and celebrated! 

Our friends and family were thrilled, and I started praying for twins. Grandma Susie had been praying for twin boys to come into the family for many, many years. I knew she wouldn't let that go. She had always dreamed of having more children, and I think that not having more was one of her biggest regrets. I knew that the way this pregnancy lined up, it was twins. The day I realized I was pregnant was April 23rd, the day after what would have been their 50th wedding anniversary. I told everyone I knew that I just knew it was twins. Twin boys. I told Andrew to pray for them. I told my mom to pray for them. I told my study group to pray for them. The Thursday after we announced the "baby," I told my ENDOW group that I had a feeling it was twins. My friend Lindsay said, "Wouldn't that be crazy!?" We both agreed that twins would be so wonderful. The thought stuck and stuck. All I could think about was twin boys. 

Andrew left for a business trip on Sunday, May 6th. That night I started feeling some sharp pains on one side, which I knew could be signs of an ectopic pregnancy. I called my mom, who made me promise to get in first thing the next morning. Andrew called to tell me he'd arrived safely in Baltimore and I told him that I was going to go in the OB as a precaution, praying it wasn't a miscarriage. 

The next morning I got in right away. I called my friend Angie, who took the girls for the morning. She knew, of course, that we were praying for twins. I think just about everyone did! I called my mom on the way up and reminded her to keep praying for them. She said to me, "Well, whatever is in there is in there. I don't know if you can just pray another one in." 

I walked into the OB's office and I thought, "I just want a healthy baby...but boy will I be shocked if there aren't two." I hopped up on the ultrasound table and the sonogram tech got started. I saw them right away and my heart was beating out of my chest. I yelped, "is it twins!?" and she said, "There's Baby A...and Baby B. Do twins run in your family?" I replied, "We've been expecting them for years!" 

I had a very hard time holding myself up on my way back to the car. I felt like I was going to pass out. I just wanted to scream to everyone I saw, "IT'S TWINS!!!!!!" I called Andrew from the parking lot. He knew I was at the OB and left his conference to answer my call. I said, "Well, I'm okay. You could even say I'm doubly okay." There was a long silence and he said "...NO. WAY." 

On the way home I called my mom. She was so nervous for my appointment. I said, "Well, it turns out I am high risk." She said, "Oh no, what's wrong!??!" I almost died laughing when I replied, "well twins are always considered high risk just because there are two." You could have knocked her over with a feather. 

Andrew just happened to be in Baltimore, staying with his parents, so we agreed to tell his family with him there in person and me over Skype. The results were hilarious. 

Aunt Lisa was first.  

So then we told Andrew's parents. You know Lisa wasn't going to be left out of that one. Michael got home and she said, "I'm going with Andrew. Peace out, cub scout!" So that's why you hear her voice in this one.  

That night Andrew and I freaked out together via email. 

And then we told Facebook. It was adorable. 

Life is sweet. I am never surprised by the way He blesses us when we're really open to His gifts, and He wants to shower each and every one of us with blessings. All we have to do is love Him and let Him work. I would imagine that there is nothing He loves more than hearing someone squeal with delight over the blessings He sends. 

And boy(s), oh boy(s), but there are reasons to squeal every day. 

Interview with a 6 year old

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLhuYWUOYHk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Leftovers

Miles and Stone battle for leftovers!

Lordes catchy song meets Molly's creativity...

This little gem was blocking the driveway when I got home from work!

Where I'm @

Ever sit down and think, "I'm going to call these these the 'good old days' someday"?

Yup. Just did. Love life & everything in it.