A Look Back

Birthday girls in their birthday outfits!

As I reflect back on the last year, I find myself amazed at all that has happened. There were somedays (ok, MANY days) that I wondered how we would ever survive the first year with our twins yet, somehow here we are. One of Nate's cousin's recently had twins, and she called me up asking me how I did certain things with my newborns. I felt like I was of zero help to her because I don't know how we did it. It seems like such a blur now and the only thing I can say is I am 100% certain that we could not have done it without God. Somehow, He enabled us to rise to the challenge and He sent us angels in the form of family and friends when we were in desperate need of help. I may not remember everything from this whirlwind of a year, but I wanted to take the time to share a few memorable moments.

The girls were very confused when everyone started singing the birthday song

I remember the first six weeks or so, the babies had no idea the difference between night and day. Especially Lydia. She would wake up at 3:00 AM with no intention of going back to sleep anytime soon. We would take turns holding her and rocking her in the recliner and eventually fall asleep with her on our chests. Those nights were so long but I almost miss it. She just loved to snuggle up and be held and of course has little interest in such things now.

There was no confusion when it came to what they should do with the cake. They went to town on it!

Hey Nate, remember that time you woke me up in the middle of the night with your hallucinations? You were rocking the pillow back and forth and when I told you that wasn't a baby, you started frantically searching inside the pillowcase looking for her. Good times!

We had their party at the park with the Shepherd and Pendleton cousins. The girls absolutely loved the rocks! Lydia got her hand caught in the cookie jar in this picture trying to eat a rock!

Eden refused to look up at me because she was so enthralled with her rocks.

Remember that time I was struggling to get in the door of the store with the twins and the lady commented on how I had my arms full and then kept right on walking without even holding the door. Duh, my arms are full! A little help would be appreciated. Geesh!

They got a little messy with the cake so we had to strip them down. In an effort to get them to smile, everyone started playing peekaboo, but it backfired and the girls just played peekaboo too!

Lydia, remember when you had a massive blow out at Christmas and ended up with poop all the way up your back and into your hair? Yeah, that was gross! Eden, remember when you projectile vomited all over the restaurant at Silver Dollar City. You better bet we left a good tip!

I remember the days when I would snuggle in bed with both my babies (and Ollie at my feet) and all of us would take a nap together. Then they hit the age were they busted out of their swaddles and rolled around and that was the end of that, but I enjoyed it while it lasted.

Eden giving Lydia a ride on their new birthday toy from Grandma. They have two of these but still usually fight over the one. Silly girls!

I remember hitting my breaking point, more than once, and bursting into tears wondering what I was doing wrong. Why weren't my babies conforming to my delusions of what rearing children was like? I did reach a point where my emotional state had spiraled so low, and I had to really reevaluated my priorities and expectations. I had to quit being so hard on myself, Nate, and the babies. It was a difficult process and the crazy lady still appears at times but I've learned it's better to be happy with my reality than pining for my unrealistic expectations.

Peeking over the crib to watch Daddy work in the yard

I loved when the girls first learned how to smile and how to laugh. Those first couple of months, you feel like you're only a milk machine/bum wiper to your babies. But then one day you walk into the room and their faces light up and they give you the gummiest, sweetest smiles you've ever seen. Next thing you know, they learn how to giggle and chuckle. That right there is a slice of heaven on Earth!

Nate got a bike trailer for Father's Day and it's been a great investment. We love going for rides in the evening after dinner.

One of the girls favorite songs was "Tomorrow" from Annie. Whenever we were trying to elicit a smile or get them in a better mood, we started singing it at the top of our lungs and usually intentionally off key. They espeially loved when we belted out the high notes. They would just stare at us like you are the weirdest parents ever and then burst into smiles

Playing in the water on a warm day

I'm sure if I thought about it longer, I could write a short story entitled "Memoir of a Twin Mommy." I'll just leave it at this and say that this year has not been smooth sailing, but I'm happy to report our ship has not sunk! We take every day as it comes to us and just try to do our best. I hope our girls know we love them so much!

Wrapping up Summer

Oh summer days! Where have you gone? We've been busy this month, and other than our entire household's bout with the stomach bug, we've been busy with good things!

Lydia NEVER sleeps on my chest anymore. This was the silver lining moment when she was sick! 

We took a little weekend trip to Kansas City so Nate and I could go to the temple there. We had an "interesting" adventure at our hotel. There were a couple of trucks parked right outside our hotel door whose owners apparently didn't believe in common courtesy or city noise ordinances. They were blasting their music, drinking their beer, and cursing at each other until all hours of the night. Naturally our girls decided to throw their own party and forgo sleeping. Nate finally called the front desk around midnight and they made them turn their music down. But I swear these people never actually went to sleep, and hotel walls are so thin you can hear everything. The girls finally relaxed and fell asleep around 2:00 AM and lo and behold a car alarm went off for 5 minutes! AHHHHHH! It was a long night, and of course our girls are incapable of sleeping in, so we started the next day at 6:15 AM when Eden woke us up. As we left the hotel, I noticed the trucks said they were part of an escort service. Nate says it was probably a trucking escort service but I think they were part of a different kind of escort service. Ugh, next time I'll be more willing to pay a little more and hopefully get a better night's rest. I guess when you pay to stay at the dump, you shouldn't be surprised when the trash shows up! Is that mean to say or just true? Other than our hotel experience, we had a good time going to the temple and exploring the downtown area a bit.

We also had the opportunity to do a little boating! Nate and I won a boating trip at a silent auction the Young Women at church held for a camp fundraiser. We were able to do some skiing, wakeboarding, and surfing. It has been way too long since we've been able to participate in any water sports and we definitely felt it the next day...and the day after that.....and the day after that! We used some muscles we forgot even exsisted and had a great time doing so.

A couple of weeks ago my friend Krystal told me they had free guest passes to Silver Dollar City and invited us to go with them. Say what? Free? You know we're all over that! It worked out great to be able to trade off watching the kids so we all could take turns on the rides. Despite the rain, I had a brilliant idea that we should all go on a water ride because we probably wouldn't get that wet.....yeah, about that......we got soaked. With the humidity and a light drizzle we pretty much stayed squishy all day! But we still had fun and did I mention it was free? Thanks Krystal and Cam!

It was a great way to wrap up the summer and we are looking forward to a fun-filled fall!