Lollipop Death Grip

I love Fridays. Darren gets off at noon and sometimes he surprises us and gets home even earlier...about 11:30 am. Today, we planned a trip to Lynchburg so we could do a little shopping at Kohl's Department Store. If you've never been, make it a point to go. Great stuff for reasonable prices.

After spending 2 hours in the store, we took a chance and ate dinner at Cracker Barrel. If we've been before, it was decades ago, and we don't recall it. We are more of a Carrabas, El Rodeo, or Outback type people. We weren't sure how or if we would enjoy some country cooking. Needless to say and surprisingly so, it was very delicious.

When dinner was over, we took a stroll through the country store. I wanted to reward the kids for being so well behaved at Kohl's, so I treated them to a piece of candy. Lilah and Jax received a lollipop and Ty got GIGANTIC "dots". Remember those? Only you may remember them being tiny.

On the way home, Lilah fell asleep and would NOT let go of that sucker. The ride was 1 hour long and she held it the entire time while napping. Upon arriving home, I was so upset to find out that I picked out a cinnamon sucker for her. My poor baby girl was probably sucking on a spicy sucker and I didn't know it. Either way, she didn't seem to have any complaints.

Demolition Jax

After Church today, all of our children were in desperate need of a nap. They were beyond grumpy. I guess Church did them no good today. LOL! I even made Ty take a nap and he hasn't napped in over 2 years.

I laid down with Ty, until he fell asleep, and I turned down the baby monitor so I wouldn't have to hear Lilah and Jax babble themselves to sleep. Darren was going to be mowing the lawn shortly.

Around 5:00 pm (Late I know. We had a late start getting them down.) Lilah and Jaxon began waking up. I asked Darren if he would run up to their room and get them. He agreed. Through the kitchen baby monitor I hear Darren saying, "Oh Jax! Your mommy is going to be so upset." I was cringing at the thought that he might have removed his name off the wall. I had just rehung each letter on both sides of the room because they have been pulling them off. them. And trust me, it's no simple task. Then I thought, "It's not possible. I moved their cribs out from the wall, so the letters were out of their reach!" Darren continues on, enticing me to have to know what the heck he was talking about. So, I run upstairs, and to my amazement and to much disappointment I found Jax's crib FILLED with rolled diapers. Rolled diapers? Strange right? Why rolled diapers you ask? Apparently, before falling asleep, he took the cutest diaper cake I have ever seen (which was made and given to me by my friend Jenny) off of the bookshelf and tore it to pieces.

He certainly felt my disappointment, but I was VERY easy on him. I was so stunned to be honest. Darren said, "I knew something wasn't right because I didn't go immediately outside to mow the lawn and I kept hearing all kinds of noises through the monitor." I guess not enough noises to go in there and check on the little stinker????
This was one section of the room. I mean he literally had a ball destroying this masterpiece.
The diaper cake was held together with this paper towel holder. The cake board was used for one of the layers of the 3-tiered diaper cake.
His crib was indeed pulled out from the wall and this is what was in between the wall and the crib. Those little paper pieces were precious baby diecuts made with the Cricut machine.
Now, all we have left is the sweet baby girl diaper cake. The nursery is no longer symmetrical. I may actually loose some sleep over this one. Ahhh, what to do!!!

Popsicle Fun!

As the summer is quickly coming to an end, I made certain to capture Lilah and Jaxon's favorite summer time treat. They know them as "pops" and they first had one in the same way they've experience most everything else that I'd rather them not have yet... they saw big brother eating it.

They're so darn cute, I could lick them up and eat them too!

Looking At The Glass HALF FULL

Ahhhh, twins! Gotta love them. Two to hug. Two to kiss. Two to experience them do all their firsts. Two to shop for. Two to laugh with. Two snuggle. Two, TOO cute!!!! I have to admit, they are a true blessing. They are fun. They receive mounds of attention. They are loved, loved, loved. They get gawked over. They love life. The list is endless. I can thank GOD for that optimistic view of life with twins. Without Him above, I could be a walking time bomb. The next one to "go postal" on someone. Praise God that my reality, for me, is a true blessing.

I learned on Monday, at Bible Study, AND I LOVE THIS, that one who grumbles is one who is faithlessness. And it's true. If you grumble or complain, what your basically saying is that you don't have faith that God has placed a particular circumstance your way to grow you closer to Him. Doesn't that just make so much sense? SO... that is why I take the gift of twins as simply that... a gift. God is using them to break me of my constant need or drive to be PERFECT.

On any given day, my home is clean and very organized, but it's next to impossible to keep these hardwood floors pristine AND it's KILLING ME. The other night we had tacos, corn, and black beans. As I've said before, I want the babies to feed themselves as much as possible so they can learn a necessity of life. I decided to take a measuring cup and fill it up with all the food I swept up from one meal. It was almost 1 full cup of beef, corn, and black beans. I decided to look at the cup as HALF FULL instead of HALF EMPTY! And...when you are about to grumble or complain, I hope you can to. Look at life's struggles as a privilege from God. Look at those tough days, those challenging times, and those very frustrating moments as discipline from God. We discipline our children for their own good, right? And so does God. He disciplines us because he loves us. As a parent, I do my children no good to NOT, NOT discipline them. And either does God. SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT?

Bye-Bye Baabaa!

After Lilah and Jaxon's 1 year well visit appointment, Dr. Delaney suggested to end all bottles feedings. We had already weened them off of bottles during the day. Lilah and Jaxon were only receiving their early am bottle (4:30 am, right before our workout) and their evening bottle (9:30 am, right before our bedtime), but after the Dr. visit, I felt it was time to say good-bye to bottles. I have always been a fan of "cold turkey". Whether it be bottle weening, passie plucking, or potty training. WHY in the world would anyone allow their child a small taste of something that they are so addicted to? I was sad to see the bottles go. After all, this is what kept them a "baby", but I was excited for a new milestone and thankful to be saying GOOD-BYE to formula.

We figured out how many bottles Lilah and Jaxon were fed, since the day they were born, and how much we spent in formula. Are you ready for this?

Amount of bottles: 4,420

Average Yearly Cost of Formula: $4,744.00

Lilah and Jaxon's last bottle was on May 4, 2010. I think the adjustment went really well. I believe they missed the temperature of the milk (hot to cold) more than they missed the sucking aspect. On the morning of their last bottle, Lilah woke up first and Darren had already left for work, so I allowed her to feed herself so I could snap away. By the time Jax woke up, Kaitlyn was here. Of course, she had to be the one to feed him his last "baabaa".

I found "EGGS"actly the answer I've been searching for!

During our last trip to Myrtle Beach, hubby brought up his desire to have a fourth child. I laughed it away and said, "You're out of your mind!" I could totally have a fourth or fifth child running around in our home, but the desire to ever be pregnant again has eliminated the option of "another" from my mind. I thoroughly enjoyed pregnancy with Tyson. The first pregnancy, the first sonogram, the first, the first, the first. And while with the pregnancy of twins was actually the FIRST of everything "two", LOL, I just had a difficult time enjoying it as much because being pregnant and trying to take care of another child, much less three other children, is something that I feel I wouldn't be the best match for.

I have been praying about this periodically because as a woman who loves the Lord, and her husband, I know it is important and commanded of us to be submissive to our husbands. I do not want to make justifications for not submitting and ultimately if Darren demanded it of me, I guess I would have no other choice than to agree, but is it really something I have to submit to? At least willingly vs. by force? After all, it is my body, I will be the one who has to endure the struggles of pregnancy and motherhood all at the same time.

So... after a few weeks of prayer, not consistently on this topic, I found "EGGS"actly the answer I've been searching for. It's a rather funny story.

This morning I was making breakfast for the kids and myself. I planned on making eggs, whole wheat toast, and fresh raspberries Everything was ready, but the eggs. I always grab 4 eggs from the fridge, if daddy isn't home to eat with us. It tends to be sufficient for our 4 bellies. After cracking the first egg, I reached for the second egg. Cracked it and out popped 2 eggs in 1. TWIN eggs? I've never seen such a thing. Have you? So, in amazement, I laughed, showed Ty, we talked about it, and then I had to grab the camera. We even named the eggs, Tyson, Lilah and Jaxon. See below.

The story goes on however. Then, I cracked egg #3. To my surprise, another 2 eggs in 1. I was dying. I had to laugh because even though I know God wasn't possibly speaking to me through EGGS, I just thought, okay, here is God's sign that if I try for another baby, it will be twins AGAIN. So... I thought and thought and said, "there's [eggs]actly the answer I have been searching for. I am NOT chancing it. I am not chancing that 60% chance, that I have, to conceive twins again."

And finally, the ending to the story. NO, I am not pregnant, so don't go jumping up and down in excitement. I cracked the final egg. I almost put it back actually. I thought, I usually crack 4 eggs and receive 4 eggs but today I cracked 3 eggs and got 5. Do I really need to crack the other one? Without really thinking all of that through, I cracked it. AND LOW AND BEHOLD, two more eggs popped out. What the heck? This chicken had sextuplets. AND THEN IT WAS A DEFINITE. It was revealed to me that I could possibly be the next John and Kate plus 8. NO WAY! I might just have to ask the Lord for forgiveness instead of permission on this one. LOL! Just kidding, but really, I wonder if this bares any foreshadowing? Ty and I got a HUGE chuckle. We started naming them all, but I stopped as he named the "4th"child "Poleon Dynomite" as he says it.

Poop Happens in Our House AND THEIRS...

So, the other day I was bathing the babies in the tub. I was in a huge rush because a friend invited Tyson over to play and little did I know that the mother was anticipating me to stay and hang out while her kids and Ty play together. So, I was in a rush to come home, bath the babies, and go back to spend the latter part of the afternoon there. After the bath I allowed Jax to roam around in his room while I gave Lilah her body massage and dressed her. As I was dressing her, I said, "Phewey Lilah, what smells like poo poo!" I chalked the smell up as my imagination playing tricks on me, but before I could say 1.2.3, I smelled it again. In the meantime, I have become immune to the noises of our home. Jax was in the background the entire time going "Eh! Eh!" non stop. He was trying to say, "Help me. Something isn't right here." I turned around to find Jax covered in poop from his head to his toes. Apparently, he pooped on the carpet, then decided to play around in it and finally realized it wasn't a desirable as he thought. I was mortified. The poop was every where. Even on "their house". Unfortunately, I did not capture the picture of Jax covered in poop because it all happened so fast, but I did capture two pictures of their house covered in poop.