31 Days: Love Letters from Mommy - Day 4

So I am behind a day (or now 2 or 3) already in the challenge but unfortuantely Wednesday night we were hit HARD by illness abound. Thursday we spent 2 1/2 hours at the doctor while they ran tests, did xrays, etc. As it turns out Ryan has an ear infection, plus a virus that is causing him hives --- first ear infection for either child in 2 plus years of life. I'd say we've been lucky.

 

And Q, poor Q, she was hit hard with a high fever and cough - so much so, that my non-stop, all action girl, actually spent the majority of 2 days on the couch wrapped her nap mat from school. My poor bugs. And as it always happens, Momma went down the drain too and woke up with almost 103 temperature this morning and sinus pressure that makes my eyes fill as though they were bugging out. So there we go, my round of excuses. Now onto Day 4....(just pretend it is Day 4)

 

Dear Ryan & Quinn,

Today was your Daddy's THIRTY-THIRD BIRTHDAY!!!! He officially sounds older to me for the next 6 months until I turn 33. At any rate, I thought today's letter to y'all should focus around your daddy and what you can learn from him. There will be days that you won't want to listen to either of us or believe we are not "with it", but trust, you have much to learn from your wise father. I woudn't have married him otherwise : ) So here are just a few:

1. No matter what, always love Jesus. Your daddy is first, and foremost, a believer. And everyone who comes in contact with him knows that. He is not in your face about it, but you can see the peace that resonates around him because he knows whose he is.

2. Always have a generous heart. Your daddy is one of the most generous and thoughtful people I know. He always thinks of others and their comfort before their own. He goes out of his way to love on others and to make sure they are taken care of.

3. Work hard to the best of your ability. Kids, your daddy works so hard. And it's not for him, or for his gain in the company. He works so hard for YOU and for us. So that we can have the life we envisioned, one that I can stay home and work part-time and be with you. He is 100% humble about his accomplishments, but has made so many strides within his company. Hard work, dedication, perserverance, and ability to problem solve goes a long way.

4. Be quick to apologize. Lord knows, it takes momma a sweet forever to say that I am sorry, but your daddy says it in almost an instance. Partly because he's not a huge fan of controversy : ) but mostly because he just wants peace, peach in the household and peace amongst us. We have such few hours to all spend together and it's not worth fighting about. He's always been good at just letting go. A good lesson for all of us.

5. Enjoy and live in the free time that we have. Guys, our lives are fast and furious. Mommy & daddy work, you go to school, playdates, Itty Bitty City, etc --- and our time at home with just the four of us is very quick - maybe just 2-3 hours. But your daddy soaks in every single second of that 120-180 minutes. He plays with you from the moment he walks in the door, takes you outside to play with chalk or your cars, helps Mommy get you ready for dinner, bathes you, then watches our last cartoon of the evening, most nights reads you 2 or 3 books, and then we all go tell the moon goodnight and head to bed. He takes every single second to be with you from 5:30-8:00ish. For someone who has been up to provide for us since 4:30PM, you have no idea how blessed you are. How blessed we all are.

Happy Birthday to the best husband and father ever. We love you so much. I know there will be so much that R&Q will continue to learn from you over the years --- even if they may not recognize it until they are 30 : ) YOU are our HEART!



 

 

 

 

31 Days: Love Letters from Mommy Day 3

Dear Ryan and Quinn,

 

I think as parents we often think of ourselves as the "teachers". But I would say that is wrong. You guys have taught me more in 2 years and 4 months than I have learned in a lifetime. I could go on and on about that - but the thing that stands out most in my mind is how you've taught me to appreciate the little things.

 

You are AMAZED at the most simplistic of things - new flowers you have never seen, a balloon, a "punkin", the moon, the stars, any new noises, a "chug chug" (ie: a dump truck), a hot air balloon on the way to school this morning. I love your excited little faces and your realization that you know what said object is. I love that I can understand you now : ) And it's such a precious reminder of making me look around and see the small little pieces instead of rushing to the next big thing.

 

As parents, we always want to make sure you have everything you need --- so sometimes we overbuy, overpromise, over-everything ---- when really you are just happy with the little things. The little things that as adults we are too busy to look at or appreciate. But you guys have forced me to slow down and notice the green on the trees or the "roar" sounds of the lawnmower. You love just being in cozy pajamas more so than the supposedly outfits I force you in every day. Gosh, I love you so much for that. You return me to planet earth on a regular basis.

 

May you always appreciate the little things that God has blessed us all with. May your amazement with the moon, stars, sky, and sun always remain. You seeing and appreciating all of that clears my head of all the "junk" that clouds it on a regular basis. And gosh darn it, I'll say it --- you both are so smart : ) So proud of you and the way your mind works. Love you always.

 

 

 

 

 

31 Days - Day #2 Letters from Mommy

Dear Ryan and Quinn,

 

When your daddy and I first found out we were having twins (once we got over the initial shock), my immediate thought was "best friends forever". Y'all are so lucky to have each other. I pray that you will always be close, respectful of each other, and love always.

 

Right now you are at the cutest stage where you take care of one another. Quinn, you are Ryan's little caretaker. You always make sure that he has his trucks, shoes, and water. If you see something you think would make him happy, you run over, grab it, then shove it in his face : ) Of course, you also torture him endlessly and like to take back what you've just given him, but we're working on that.

 

And Ryan, you are so thoughtful with Quinn. The other day she was yelling that she wanted her blankie from her crib. So you ran to the gameroom, emptied out a box that typically holds the refrigerator toys, brought it back to the room in an attempt to rescue "blankie" from the pack 'n play. I just sat there in amazement that you would do something so caring without even being asked.

 

As you grow older, I hope you will always be just as loving and considerate. Of course, we expect the occasional fights and tormenting, but as a whole, I pray you will always watch out for each other. Your Uncle Blaine and I are so fortunate to have a close relationship. To this day, we speak at least a couple of times a week and I know that no matter what, he is always there for me and I for him. We have grown to be more than just brother/sister, but truly best friends.

 

Family is first (after God), my little ones. Don't let silly things come between you. As we all get older, relationships become more complicated, but never forget who has been by your side since the very beginning. Cheers to best friends for life!

Love forever

Newborns

7 months old

Two years old

 

 

Love always,

 

 

Mommy

 

P.S. Today is a very special day --- it is your Gigi's birthday!!! She is such a special woman and she loves y'all so much. She looks at the moon every night, as do we, and we always wave "hi" to Gigi. Big hugs and kisses, Gigi! Mommy is so lucky to have a mother like her. If I can be half of the mom to y'all as she is to me, then I think we will do just fine : )

When you were in mommy's bellly

And now : )

 

 

Twin Sumo Wrestling

I just want to say that all of this was a HIGHLY supervised activity. Please don't call CPS. They obviously were having a good time. So was I. : )

 

 

 

Never a dull moment.

 

 

31 Days: Letters from Mommy

Ok, so there is this thing buzzing with all my bloggy friends hooking up with "Nester" on 31 days IN A ROW of posting for the month of October. You pick one topic and post on that every day. Whoa. Never mind that I've never really read "The Nester". I love the idea and I need a new challenge to reinvigorate my blogging.

 

Now, I have no idea if I can keep up with it but I sure am going to try. As I was doing my devotions this morning, the topic finally hit me. I am not a crafter, so I'm not going to post 31 days of Pintrest projects (God bless all of you who do - I know where my gifts lay), I don't have a lot of "Mommy tips", and I don't have 31 days of crockpot meals. But what I do have is 31 days of things I want to tell my children.

 

Since they are only 2, our conversations are somewhat limited. So this is the perfect way to communicate to them and maybe one day they will be bored enough to sit down and read what Mommy wrote them long, long ago. Probably when blogger & wordpress are out of existence.

 

What I can't commit to do is post it to "The Nester's" site everyday or make a fancy blog button. (If anyone wants to make one for me, I'll gladly accept the help though!) So this will just be for me, and for those of you who happen to read my blog from time to time. I don't really know where this is going to go - I think some days may be scriptural, some just funny things, some "life lessons", and if I can find my camera, maybe some pictures ---- and I have a feeling I'll probably learn more from writing them than they will reading them later on - or I'll be reminded of what is truly important. Added bonus.

 

Dear Ryan and Quinn,

 

Yesterday, our pastor (the one who baptized you and has prayed for you since the day you were conceived), spoke about Psalm 139:14: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

 

Guys, do you know how TRUE that is??? YOU BOTH are wonderfully made. Do you believe it to be so? Our God had a plan for both of you when He created you. He created you in His image. He loves you so much. More than even Mommy and Daddy. And He wants you to know that promise. Never, ever doubt for a second that you are anything less than a precious child, a precious child of God. Never doubt for a minute that He loves you, no matter what you do, or how you may misbehave, or make mistakes. Mommy and Daddy make mistakes too (but absolutely infrequently and we are almost always right, never forget that : ) )

 

And Mommy has questioned for so many years how He could love me. So many years of self-loathing. But she has His Love. She does. Daddy does too. And you don't have to earn it, you don't have to do good works to receive it --- it just IS. That is the blessed promise - the very definition of Grace. We don't deserve it but He loves us so much, that He gives it to us.

 

No matter what you may encounter, I pray that you never look in that mirror and see anything less than the beautiful child you are. I don't mean beauty from the outside, for that is fleeting (although you both are beautiful to me!) - but God's beauty shining from the inside.

 

I love you so much and have from the day that He knitted you in the womb. (ooh, crafty reference!) You are my little reminders that God is still in the miracle-making business. You are each perfectly made, just the way He intended.

 

Tomorrow will be less sappy but felt I had to kick it off on a heartfelt note. We will be talking about poop in no time : )

 

Love,

 

Mommy

Help. Serious help.

Y'all.

Seriously. I need help.

I'm really not sure this is the type of thing to post on facebook. Or blogger for that matter.

But desperate times.

I've searched the interwebs and I've seen a lot of "wait it out" type responses.

Here is the deal.

Q started a new thing this weekend.

She started screaming "poo-poo", "poo-poo", "poo-poo" over and over again. Then she would scream when we came near her to check.

Then she started running and getting a diaper.

Mind you, she did not have poo-poo.

Not yet.

She cried, begged, pleaded to be changed.

So we changed her diaper.

No less than 5 minutes later.

Yup, there was poo poo.

In the fresh diaper.

After finally catching on (we are pretty astute around here), we started trying to get her to go on the potty.

Which she usually loves and has been successful with #1 several times.

She threw a flying fit.

So the only solution to get her to stop screaming is to put on a fresh diaper and that's the only way she will go #2.

I realize this is probably my most disgusting post ever but I am trying to nip this in the bud before it becomes a real issue. A lot of the posts I was reading say it led to a lot of problems with ummmm.... the big c. Constipation.

Seriously, am I typing this???

If anyone has any tips or thoughts or encouragement, PUH LEAZE comment and let me know. Aghhhhhhhhhhhhh.

From a mommy that would prefer to keep her mental faculties in check,

1st Day of Preschool - September 2012

R&Q had their 1st day of preschool Monday! And I much as I love spending time with my little buddies, it has been a LONG and HOT summer. We were just flat running out of activities and I think we just all needed a new routine. It's amazing to me how much I miss them during the day though, even though it's only a few hours. I am always eager to pick them up and get their big hugs as they run down the hallway towards me. Since we spend A LOT of time together, I don't often get the big "hellos" like Daddy does when he gets home from work. So it's a nice change of pace : )

 

But whew, I sure did forget how much work it is to get 2 toddlers out the door with all of their belongings, lunches, snacks, lovies - and all of us be dressed and ready to go by 8:30am. I know that so many of you working moms do it day in and day out, and god bless you - cause it's definite work. At any rate, I only failed to bring a key paci for Q, a lovey for R, and their family picture collage - all on the first day. Mommy fail. And actually, I didn't really so much as "forget" the project as I just kind of skipped it for this week. To be honest, I just haven't had time to even dig out my other computer with all of our pictures on it, pick out the ones we wanted, send them to be printed, pick them up, yada yada. Moving has kicked my butt. So maybe next week I'll turn it in.

 

And speaking of moving - NO idea where my good camera is, so I took all their 1st day pics with my phone. Mommy fail again. They are not the best pictures to say the least. I am going to try again to dress them up this weekend and do a little picture fake-out. Cause their outfits were just too cute not to have good ones.

 

By all reports, they had 2 great days at school this week (they go Mon/Weds). The teacher said they settled right in and followed directions (WHAT?) and seemed to just be really happy the whole time. The only bummer is that each day they have only slept about 45 minutes at school (about 1 hr and 15 minutes LESS than what they need), so they are super fun in the afternoons. Meaning they went to bed by 7pm on Monday. I.was.done. And obviously so were they because they didn't peep until 8:45 the next morning.

 

So school year 2012-2013 is off and running! I'm so excited for them to have these new experiences and be around lots of other kids. The preschool staff is wonderful and I am in love with all of the activities and lessons they do throughout the day. They really pack it in, from music, fine motor, gross motor, playtime outside, bible stories, and naptime. It exhausts me just reading about what they do all day! Looking forward to see how they grow and change this year --- I have a feeling it's going to be a big year for them : )