Fall

What a boring title!  Fall?  Just "Fall"?  The reason for such a bore is nothing short of my complete lack of blogging lately - there are just too many things to talk about, so putting a finger on a title just can't happen...but since I haven't blogged since something crazy like September? (Or August??), I guess everything that's been happening can be summed up by the time of year it's all occurred:  Fall.  With a  promise, girls, to do better.

So, first, I tried to give the blog a new look and immediately got an email from my sister "What happened to your blog??"  So...maybe I'll go back to the good ol' standard look.  We'll see.  (So yes, click on this post to see the whole thing....trying a new layout yet again!) :-) 

The girls are loving school.  They are so well adjusted with it now and look forward to seeing "Teacher Mae, Teacher Lucia and Teacher Lisa"!  To hear them talk about their teachers and the kids is just precious beyond words.  I love that they have a couple of days of independence from Chris and I.  It's so good for them, and it's so good for me, and it's so good for "us".  It makes our days together so much sweeter.

Next month, these two turn 3.  How is that happening?  Seriously?  What I am finding is that with each new day, their little minds are just developing at lightening speed and the conversations we carry on together are taking on more and more meaning and significance - and humor!  Oh wow are these girls funny.  I literally laugh every day at the things they do!  

For starters, they are becoming so creative!  This is a blessing...and a curse.  Madeline had a tube of Desitin the other day and I found her caking it all over Savannah's feet, toes, legs, stomach, face....I said "Madeline!" only to have her turn around and show me her white, glowing face - all the way to the hair on her head!  

Today I was hurrying to get ready and turned my back on Madeline in the bathroom for a few minutes to then turn around and find mascara all over her little face.  She had spread it on her eyebrows, thinking that's where it's supposed to go.  (Thank goodness she didn't try to put it on her eyelashes!)  The more I freaked out, the more she kept trying to rub it off - only making it much worse!  Thankfully, I had my phone nearby to capture that moment.  

And, can we just say they are completely ALL GIRL???

And then there are some days we can't win the battle of not wearing their play clothes out and about....so a very proud daddy gets to escort two little princesses into the grocery store on occasions such as this:

And a proud mommy spends lots of days alone with her girls while daddy works, calling for lots of self portraits, just like this:

And I think in the midst of all his annoyed exits when the girls just want to play with him (a.k.a. pull on his ears, try to sit on top of him...poor Bailey), there are moments like this that I walk in on, knowing that he does love these girls.  (Knowing how important these bunnies are to the girls only accentuates the meaning behind this picture): 

And then there is the simple reality that these girls are the best of friends that one could ever imagine.  The bond they share is only growing stronger with each new day.  I love to see them interact, love to see them play, love to watch them constantly looking out for each other.  Oh, and they are siblings, so yes, I love to see them say "I sorry sissy."  "I forgive you."  when one misbehaves to the other (misbehaving is putting it lightly...ha!).  

I have been on the road - a lot.  Work has been busy which is great because thank God I do L O V E what I do...and then Chris has been so busy with work as well - and thank God he does L O V E what he does too!  But both of our jobs sometimes keeps us on the road...some months more than others.  This month has been just that. This evening, we were all home together for the first time since Thursday.  Madeline ran up to me and said "Mommy!  We all together!  Daddy here!  We all together!  Jesus helped us all be together!"

Really?  Really?  Wow.  One word.  Blessed.  Blessed beyond words.

Update on Life

It has been quite a while since I've blogged.  I sure do have high expectations on keeping a great journal on the latest happenings of my growing girls for them to read one day.  Little did I think through the simple fact that life - raising twin two year olds - can slow down my time to sit down and write.  I must make a better effort of doing just that.  Before I know it, Madeline and Savannah will be high schoolers, pulling out the books I've made from the blog, and wondering what happened to any chronicles from Age 2?

I only think of the high school age because yesterday Chris and I took the girls to the Greenway in the double stroller and passed twin teenaged girls running.  They smiled so big at our girls and then smiled at each other, without saying a word.  That will be Maddie and Sav one day - I could already picture them out for a run together, passing a couple of toddler twins and thinking the exact same thing.

The girls are growing in leaps and bounds.  Their conversations with Chris and I are so unbelievably precious.  A few days ago the girls were talking about heaven, and out of the blue said "I want Jon, Kenna, Jeff and Drew in heaven with me.  Go call them and tell them.  Now, daddy!"  And the line of family members continued....listing off every single family member they could think of.  They do that often now - it is unbelievably heart warming.

Yesterday was Papaw's birthday.  They came down to Chattanooga to celebrate with us!  I have never seen the girls more excited about family coming - they do that when any family come to visit.  THEY ARE CERTAINLY FAMILY GIRLS!!!!

Bunny Go Potty

Madeline had become eerily quiet....so, Savannah and I went on a quest to find her.  As I rounded the corner to the bathroom, here's what I found:

Toilet lined with toilet paper, bunny sitting on the potty, and a little voice saying to bunny "Go potty! Go potty bunny!"

Bunny got a treat when it was all over.  

School

Oh yes. I am "that mom."

This week was the girls' first week of daycare - a.k.a. "school".  I held them back a week to get better adjusted to life in Tennessee....we visited daddy at work, went on a big shopping trip to find their special backpacks, made a quick visit to their "school", met their teachers, we pumped it up, big time.  By the time the first day arrived, they were ecstatic!  Jumped out of the car squealing for the playground, little backpacks on their backs, and ran to the door.  Of course in my frenzy, I completely forgot my camera AND my phone - so not even a mobile photo to capture the day!  But, we dropped them off, watched them head over to their room, and left without one fuss!  What?  Really?  

So, later that morning, I drove back.  Chris told me they were outside on the playground, so I jumped in the car with my zoom lens, pulled over into a parking lot across the street, and snapped away.

Yes, I am "that mom."  

They were having a big time. How sweet to see them walking together, obeying the teachers when it was time to go back inside, I loved it! Then I got worried sick. Chris and I ran some much needed errands that afternoon and by late afternoon, neither he nor I had eaten. So, we decided to eat before picking them up.  I was a nervous wreck! "Chris. They are asking for mommy right now. They are ready for me to come get them." We finished lunch (late lunch), and headed to the daycare. I walked inside, saw them, ran over to them, got down on the floor next to them and said "Are you ready to go home?!" and Madeline looked at me and said "No home. I stay at school, Mommy!" What? Really? Huh?

Yes, the girls had a big day. They loved it. They wanted to stay and play longer. They had painted us a huge picture each, precious. And yes, I'm sure I'll still stalk them every once in a while just to be sure they are ok.  Sorry girls. Or, maybe I'm the one that needs to be stalked to make sure I'M ok....hmmm.....

Settling In

Can I possibly love my two girls any more??  Today we visited daddy at school to watch the students run a 5k race in the worst possible heat ever, I might add!  This is all these two did!  They played with two senior girls, laughed, giggled, hugged each other, precious. Savannah fell down and Madeline bent down, leaned forward and kissed her knee just making Savannah laugh hysterically!  So they hugged and laughed some more!  No....I had no camera with me for all that excitement, but, this pic from a few days ago sums it up perfectly.  They have been two giggly girls this past week -- which mean, YES, they are finally adjusting to this move!!  It has not been easy.  Not even close....But, this has been the magic week!  

They love riding the Jeep - no matter when, no matter how hot, no matter how many times I tell them it's too hot to ride the Jeep, we usually end up outside with me chasing after them as they take turns driving the Jeep.  

Apples!  Apples on the front porch has become a favorite thing to do.  They love visiting daddy at school and going to see all the "kids" as they call them!  They love going on many shopping trips with mommy during the day....they are finally settling into normal nap times...life is becoming more settled.  We're settling into new routines and they are loving every minute. How could they not when they have each other to settle in together with through all of life's changes (thus far!)?  It's all they've ever know.

The first pod they were in at the NICU....(and if you're wondering about size, just compare them to the size of the aspirator bulb above them!)

The last pod they were moved to in the NICU....

Home from the hospital to Grammy's....

On to their new home in Georgia....

And now to their new home in Tennessee...

They are truly best friends and it might be the sweetest gift ever to be their mother.

Summer

Since Chris has officially started school and I attended my first academy "icebreaker" in 18 years last night, I guess it's time to recognize the fact that summer is over and admit that I did a poor, poor job of capturing all of the special moments of Summer 2011.  I do have an excuse, though.  Just to play snapshot catch-up, here goes.

May --

The girls were able to spend some great time with their cousin McKenna during a week-long trip to Chattanooga for camp meeting.  Ever since then, the girls have not stopped saying "Big girl Kenna" about every "big girl" thing they want to do.  Sit on the potty without a potty seat?  "Mommy, I big girl Kenna."  Walk down a flight of stairs without holding Mommy's hand? "Mommy, I big girl Kenna."  Sit in a chair without a booster seat or high chair? You got it.  "I big girl Kenna."  They definitely look up to their cousin Kenna! I am amazed at the bond they have even though they don't get the chance to be together too often.

June --

In June we made our annual trip to the far east coast of Morehead City, North Carolina to visit Nana and Papa!  We absolutely adore our time there as it feels like a definite vacation and retreat each and every time we visit them....even to the literal red carpet they roll out when we roll into town!  

These girls had a ball.  It was nonstop from the minute we arrived, but all with such sweet happy memories!

At the end of our vacation, we received the sad news that our other Nana Reba back in Tennessee passed away.  She was an amazingly strong woman with an equally strong daughter, my step-mom, who stood by her side through the toughest illness of cancer anyone could face.  What sweet memories I have of her hospitality, amazing food, strong protectiveness, and the last big smiles I saw of her as she watched my girls play like crazy all over her house, getting into everything, yet bringing the brightest smile to her face.   We made a detour to my dad's house and through the saddness of our loss, we were able to make many happy memories on our unplanned trip with Papaw, Mimi, Aunt Ro Ro, and Lynsey!

July --

Then there's July.  Let's start with the fun part of July.  We spent several days at one of our favorite places in the world - Cohutta Springs.  Chris had meetings, the meetings were completely family focused so the girls and I came along, and the rest is magical relaxing history:

And then there's the rest of July.  I traveled over 1500 miles across the state of Tennessee for work with help from Nana and Papa, who made a trip all the way back to our house to help keep these girls while I was gone, and on the very last day of July, in a "by the way" sidebar, we moved to Chattanooga -- Ooltewah/Collegedale to be more exact, with help from Grammy and Papa Bob who kept the girls, making the last minute packing and literal move possible, and Aunt Ro Ro who drove down to help us with everything else, and Papaw who came down just a few days later to help me with unpacking and help with the girls while daddy left town for a few days for new duties of his new position calling!  Whew! Take a breath!  That's as hectic as the month felt.  But, what would we ever do without family?  Seriously!! 

So that brings me to my beginning note, that yes, Chris started school -- as the Academy's chaplain, and with it being my high school Alma mater, it was my first C.A. icebreaker in 18 years.  

Lots of great memories, lots of big changes, lots of great family, lots of blessings.  Life is good, life is good.