Just going to lay back and live today!

Well, Wednesday started out as a normal day. Well as normal as any day for my busy little family. Fred headed off to work and I got moving. The first thing we needed to do was head to Costco and do that by 9:30a. Then we needed to get to speech therapy for Savannah by 11:00a. That all seemed totally reasonable. I got up and made pancakes, bacon, cut fresh fruit and made some glasses of chocolate milk, water and yogurt drinks. All the kids loved it. I was trying to think of the last week day we got to have such a fun breakfast and take our time! Savannah ate a ton and that always makes me so happy!
So, I bet it was about 9:15 when we were done eating. I thought about it and decided Costco could wait. I told Laurel and Anabelle and Corbin to hop in the bath. I couldn't remember the last bath they had! I need to just bring soap to the pool:) So they had a good time in there while I followed Savannah around the house and cleaned up some. The 3 middle kids made a nice mess in the bathroom. I made a few phone calls and then switched out kids. Savannah got in and was playing while I cleaned up the mess from the other kids. The phone rang and I talked to someone for a bit. I got Savannah out of the bath and saw it was already 10:50. We needed to be at therapy in 10 minutes! She had a little cold as well. So, I had her rapped in a towel and she was giggling and babbling. We were point to my nose we were mimicking.. we were doing all the therapy things she does.. so I called and CANCELED! I rescheduled for later in the week that was totally not convenient for me. But I wasn't about to break up this chance of interaction! It was great.
Finally around noon the other kids came in and asked when we were going to therapy. I told them we skipped it. They totally looked at me like I was crazy! I wanted to also try and go to Gardenridge. So, we jumped in the car. I asked Chloe to get everyone a granola bar and a lemonade. We all had a little snack until we got there.

(This was a bar stool I really liked, but I need 6 of them!)
Once there I let everyone sit on EVERY chair. Lay on EVERY bed. Put feather boas on. Pretend that a furry box was the monster from Monsters, Inc. Corbin shouted when he would see a particular door because he said it was the door from Monsters, Inc! I really went off the deep end when I died laughing at all the kids because they were modeling the coconut bras they found while I was looking for a butter dish(Fred broke mine AGAIN!)
(Chloe thinks this a cool pose)
It was about 12:45 and my mom called to see where another store was. She was near by so she stopped in. I didn't tell the kids, so when they saw her in the store they thought it was the craziest thing ever! I love how excited they get to see her like they NEVER see her(because they see her almost every day!)... So they wanted to take her back through this huge store and show her all the stuff again. So we did it all over again.
(Anabelle wants this swivel chair)
I bought a few things and said, "Guys do you all want to go out to lunch?" They thought I was crazy. We don't usually go out to lunch! We went to Jack and The Box and they said, "Mom..are we really going to go inside?" I said, "Yes!" And they all got very excited! To add to it, i bought them ALL a kids meal. We usually split something big and do pay for the toy and drink. Water seems to work fine with my kids! You would have thought it was Christmas! It was cracking me up! And then time to pick the drinks. I told them they could have ANY drink they wanted except the 2 diet drinks! Their eyes were huge! And then I hear..."Can I really get a Root Beer?" I said, "Go for it!" So the 4 kids sat at a table and ate. The toy was a book, each different. They loved the books. Mom and I sat with Savannah. I know my kids were a little louder then usually let them, but this was a whatever goes day. So sorry to anyone that we might have bothered!
We got home around 2:45 and I laid Savannah and Corbin down. But just before I did, Corbin said.."Mom I had a lot of fun with you today!"
Me too... Some days you need to just say, "Whatever goes!" I know I needed a day like that..but I didn't realize just how much all my kids needed that, especially Savannah!

Ms. Manners

Well, I wanted to give a tea party for Laurel and Anabelle. So, their cousin was coming in town that they adore. We planned it around her being here. Nothing fancy, nothing big. It was so cute. Ms. Manners taught them about being kind, sipping tea, and being polite. We also had 2 sweet neighbors help with hair and makeup. Hannah and Hayley were so sweet and helped me so much!

Every Birthday in our home starts with a blue berry muffin celebration!

Ms. Manners was a hit!

Anabelle, Hayley, Hannah and Laurel

La La loves this sweet friend!

And we love this friend too...I espeically love her mama!!!!

Oh, and don't forget how much we love these girls!!!!

That night we celebrated with a dinner and a special surprise from Aunt GiGi! Magic drinks!!!!!!!!

Happy birthday sister!

That is a tower of gifts!

Happy 5th Birthday

I cannot believe my sweet twins are 5. Words cannot explain how blessed I feel to have them in my life. As much as they test me, they make me smile more. They are both such a gift.
I am going to post what I wrote in their baby book about about finding out I was expecting, then twins, then girls! I will post pictures later from their party!

2005

Wow! We have been waiting for you and your sister to arrive! Daddy and I want you to know all the exciting days that have lead up to you and your sister being held in our arms!
Daddy and I really wanted another child. We knew we wouldn’t feel complete without having more children in our home. We also knew that Chloe would make a terrific big sister. All our dreams started to come true on November 19th, 2004. I went to the doctor’s office with Chloe early that Friday morning. They drew some blood and told me they would call later in the day. Chloe and I went to lunch and visited with some friends. Daddy came home from work around 1 o’clock that afternoon. Pretty soon we got a phone call from the nurse. She said, “Julie, you are pregnant!” I was pretty excited and told Daddy. He looked at me and said, “How long have you known?” I told him that I knew for a few days. It was just a feeling I had. When Chloe woke up from her nap, Daddy told her that mommy had a baby in her tummy. But Chloe didn’t really get what we were talking about because she wasn’t quite 2 years old. We called Ninny, Aunt GiGi and Auntie to tell them the good news. Then we called Meemaw and Pop to tell them. We shared our good news with a couple of close friends and then decided to keep it a secret until we could get everyone together to spread the word!
( This sweet picture reminds me so much of when you girls were born. The only person I could get ahold of was one of my best friends, Holly. She came up with my stuff and Jackson. Chloe and Jackson ran around the room giggling and laughing as they prepped me for my c section. I loved it, but the mean nurse didn't. I love little Jackson!)

By the next week, I knew I was really pregnant because I felt yucky every morning and most of the day. At a few weeks pregnant I was asking Daddy to not move once he got in bed because it made me feel sick! This made me think; hmmm….we must have a boy on the way. With Chloe I never felt sick.
Well, we went in for an early sonogram on November 29th. I was actually really scared something was wrong because I was feeling so different then I did when I was pregnant with Chloe. A good friend of ours came over to watch Chloe(Amy J) that morning while Daddy and I headed to the doctor’s office. I was pretty upset when we left. The doctor said that he didn’t think we would be able to see anything at all because I was only 5 ½ weeks along. Then, to our surprise we saw 1 little sac. It was too early to detect a heart beat but the sac looked perfect. Then the sonogram tech said, “And there is another sac!”

(my room was packed with people. I think the other 1/2 was outside with the bouncer..mean nurse:)

Wow! I looked at Daddy and he had tears in his eyes. We found out that day that we had 2 babies on the way. We were both very excited! But I was still a little nervous because it was too early to see both of your heart beats. The doctor said he felt like everything was going to be fine, and told us to come back on December 8th, when I was almost 7 weeks along. So we did, and that day we saw 2 little heart beats! Your hearts rates were 133 and 128. At that point I was positive you were both boys!

I just remembered Chloe’s heart rate being in the 160s and 170s all the time. We were both so excited, but decided not to tell anyone about the news until after Christmas. However, Ninny already knew and she was beside herself. Meemaw and Pop also thought it was terrific to hear that 2 more babies were on their way!
I had sonograms almost every week for a while, just because I was so nervous. We made it through Christmas without spilling the beans, although Aunt GiGi was begging me to tell everyone! Daddy, Chloe and I had a New Years Eve party at our house and I was sure everyone would know I was pregnant. I was starting to show already!

Finally, Daddy and I planned a dinner party for January 14th, 2005. I was 12 weeks along and we thought we would surprise the rest of the family with the big news! I had food cooking all day and then I ended up with a high fever and felt horrible. We had to cancel! I was so upset because we really wanted to share the news! By Sunday I felt fine and we decided to drive to each person’s house to share our news. We got to Aunt Amy’s house and Uncle Brandon’s house first. Daddy thought it would be funny to give them “Twinkies” and see if they figured it out. They did. We stayed and visited for a while. After that I was already tired and we decided to just call the rest of the family. We called Aunt Holly and Uncle Michael, Great Aunt Betsy and Great Uncle John, Great Uncle Bart, and Ninny told Great Uncle Skipper. We also called Great Aunt Penney, Ashley and Jason. And Daddy called Uncle Todd! Great Grandma already knew, but we called her as well! Everyone was so excited for us. They kept saying, “Twins?”
The next weekend was our annual “Ornament Exchange.” I was 13 weeks along and showing! Daddy filled a six pack box up with baby bottles. We walked into the party and he set the box on the table. Everyone was gabbing and thought we were just being funny. Finally I had to grab my friend Bridget’s face and say, “I am trying to tell you I am pregnant!” With that everyone went crazy and screaming and giggling. The Kelly’s said they figured it out at our New Year’s Eve party. Then Daddy said, “Ya, and it is twins!” Well, with that everyone was thrilled. The next weekend we finally shared the news with everyone. No longer a secret, which was good because I was starting to get big!

We continued to have a number of sonograms and I still was sure that we had 2 boys on the way. That scared me a little bit because all daddy and I knew was girls!

(Proud moment number 2(and 3). I can totally remember this like yesterday!)

After a lot of guessing and a lot of feeling yucky we finally got closer to the sonogram that could tell us what to expect. Boys, girls, or one of each? Around 16 weeks I started to feel you all fluttering around and by 17 weeks I could feel you tapping on my tummy! On Thursday February 24th Daddy and Chloe and I went to see Doctor Robins. During our sonogram you both were very busy and I kept trying to see what you were going to be! I couldn’t tell! Then the tech said, “Well, Baby A is a girl!” I looked at Daddy and we both smiled. I think we both hoped for at least 1 more girl! Chloe kept telling us she wanted brothers. Then the tech looked at Baby B and said, “This one is a……girl!” I was shocked! I looked at Daddy again and he was so happy. We both left the sonogram grinning from ear to ear! 2 more girls on the way! We couldn’t have been happier!

Of course Daddy and I knew we had to come up with a clever way of sharing the news. We did call Auntie and tell her. I also had to share the news with Aunt Amy. Up until this point I had stayed away from caffeine and decided at 18 weeks I would treat myself to a Dr. Pepper. So Aunt Amy and I had a Dr. Pepper date. The funny thing was, at the restaurant we chose, they didn’t have it! But Aunt Amy explained to the waitress that this was a special lunch! Someone came over and said, “I heard you really wanted a Dr. Pepper. I can make that happen!” He disappeared and came back with 2 Dr. Peppers he got from down the street! It was really sweet and funny! Aunt Amy was excited to hear that we had 2 girls on the way. She was predicting a boy and a girl!
We made everyone else wait until that Saturday. Daddy took 2 gifts wrapped in yellow with yellow tissue and green tissue inside, to Patrizios in Plano. Meemaw, Pop, Aunt GiGi and Ninny joined us for dinner. Once we were seated we asked them all what they thought we were having. I think everyone said a boy and a girl, except for Pop. I think he said 2 girls. Aunt GiGi had already shared with me that she hoped they were both girls! A waiter soon brought over the gifts and gave one to Ninny and one to Meemaw. They opened them one after another. And each discovered a tiny tiara inside!

2 more princesses on the way! Everyone was really excited. Chloe and Ninny wore the tiaras during dinner. Everyone had cute little gifts for us! It was such a fun evening. When we got home, I emailed a few friends to share the news with a picture attached. The email said, ” A picture tells a thousand words! This is what our future holds, based on our sonogram from Thursday..... Proud big sister Chloe holds her future siblings!

We called the rest of our family. Oh, during dinner I got 2 phone calls from friends wanting to know what the surprise was. That was also fun!
Wow, so much excitement already! And to think we were only ½ way through the pregnancy! So much more fun to come! Oh….finally at 19 weeks daddy could put his hand on my tummy and feel you all kicking!

1st Birthday 'Flowers'

2nd Birthday "Surfs Up Sista"

3rd Birthday 'My Gym'

4th Birthday 'Splish Splash'

5th Birthday 'Ms. Manners'

Happy 4th of July

We celebrated the 4th of July for the first time in our new home!

Savannah was of course dressed for the part. She loved the day. She ran around getting a lot of attention from everyone.

Laurel and her friend Carson played, ate and watched the fireworks! We had about 40 people over, between friends and family. It was just a perfect evening.

I had my family, my mom and both of my sisters, complete with their families! Then add all my other family that lives near by and some of our closest friends. Just made me smile to see them all together!

I didn't hear about this picture...so I am assuming it was just an interesting angel!

Man, so many smiles.. and the watermellon makes it all just perfect!

Friends, family, new and old....

I think that is what the 4th of July really reminds me of. I think of the old and the new. How each generation will lead the next, good or bad. There was once a generation of people who were so proud to be Americans. So proud that they fought for our freedom. Some of that has been passed on to the next generation. But some of it has been "lost in translation". I think we have lost that sense of smell, that "fresh freedom in the air" smell.

I realize fire works are symbolic in many ways. The lights, just like a war in countrtes far away. The celebration of victory in the sky. But the smell. Smells, to me, are what bring a memory or a feeling back. I can smell that burnt smell. The "gun powder". There were people who endured that and still do today for me. For my children. They don't even know our names, but are willing to do that.

What do I do in return? Well, honestly, not enough. But what I can say is that I am thankful for them. I admire them, old, new alive and dead. I pray for them. And I vote for them.

God has blessed this Country.

Thank you!

This verse comes to mind

Psalms 100
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the Earth
Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endureth forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

What a week

This week started off with the arrival of my sister's family from Denver! 1 Mommy, 1 Daddy, 3 boys and 1 girl. Lots of adventures, basically not a moment to sit still.
We celebrated the 4th of July at my house. Lots of friends and family came.
We did a 17 member family photo shoot! WOW!!!! We took 8 of the 10 cousins to Hawaiian Falls for the day. 5 cousins got to go to a baseball game with 2 uncles. The other 5 cousins got to go to dinner with mommies, aunts and a grandmother!
Then we celebrated Laurel and Anabelle's 5th birthday party. I took 6 kids fishing in the rain. We had a last hoora cook out and over night. Now they are gone. Cannot wait to see them again!
Pics to come!