Father's Day 2012

The girls and I had a blast trying to plan something that would "bless" their daddy on father's day! As the girls and I chatted, they came to the conclusion that they demand a lot from their daddy. No wait, that was their mommy that came to that conclusion! They are need machines. They want his undivided attention when he gets home from work. They are ready to eat as soon as they wake up on Saturday mornings. They are ready to be read to, played with, wrestled, hugged, and loved for every minute they are awake. They leave their amazing dad with little to no time for himself. And thankfully he is willing to give and give for the sake of his girls day in and day out. So this was our chance to give him the day off. Here's how it went: celebration began Saturday morning. Girls woke up. Mommy told Daddy to get showered and dressed to play golf. One of his best friends would be there to pick him up in an hour for a round of golf. Daddy plays golf. While daddy is gone, the girls create their masterpiece to give their daddy. Daddy returns home and is able to rest on the couch/hang out with friends/watch golf tournament for the afternoon. Then that night dear friends come over to grill out. The moms plan a fun cookout. We get the four kids in bed. We enjoy an evening outside with good fellowship and great burgers until the wee hours of the morning. Wee hours for us these days=midnight :) Daddy is re-charged and ready to jump back into his role of daddy! 

Thank you Kendall for being an incredible father to our girls. I have full confidence that our girls will see how much their Heavenly father loves them based on the deep affection that you, as their earthly father, shows them each and every day! We are more than blessed by your leadership in our home and the way you point us to Christ! We love you!!!!

Girls 1st Passport Stamp/Family Trip to Cabo

Not sure if the delay in blogging about our trip to Mexico is because we've been so busy since returning or if we needed time to recover from the trauma of flying with two squirmy, wiggly babies :) If I was honest, it's probably a combination of both! As the hubby said, "When was the last time they wanted to sit still at home for more than 5 seconds!?! How COULD flying with them go well?" =) No really though, we had a fun-filled family trip but we'll save the word "vacation" for when it's just the two of us, ha! It's not everyday you can get schedules to align where an entire family can be together-Mom, Dad, 3 siblings, a sister-in-law + 3 babies! So in spite of the insane amount of luggage we all drug with us or the meltdowns from tired babies as we tried to clear customs, we are so thankful for the amazing privilege to spend quality time as family! We know our days are numbered and each day is truly a gift from God! 

Top Highlights From the Trip:

1. All 11 of us flying standby and getting on BOTH flights, down there and back! yahoo!

2. A week of beautiful sunshine/hanging by the pool with the entire family together!

3. Dinners together every night with sleeping babies!

4. Seeing all 3 babies playing at the pool

5. Checking into the Hilton & Pueblo Bonito Resort in CABO

6. Girls first stamp in passport!

7. Eating dinner at Hacienda/babies doing great/toes in the sand! =)

8. Guys golf outing/Girls spa day!

9. Having an entire living area to let the kids play and eat all their meals, away from the adult area!

10. Time to read on the porch while girls napped

11. Taking a walk around the resort with the hubby on the last night!

12. Undistracted time as a family to make memories with the girls!

Just boarded the plane! We're all still happy campers!

First night at the Hilton! Sad that daddy was too sick to come out to the beach!

Showered & CLEAN-all 4 of us! Our view from the porch!

One of the highlights from the trip! Dinner out at Hacienda! Beautiful resort, great food, kids
could play on the beach=happy parents!!

The babies did fantastic! We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

The girls loving their floats at the pool and thinking they are all grown up at the swim up bar! :)

Fun at the pool with the whole crew!!

And just for memories sake, here are a few of the  LOWlights of the trip =)

1. Flying to Mexico while mommy had the stomach bug

2. Daddy catching the bug and sleeping in the bathroom the first night in Cabo-thankfully it was a 24 hour virus after throwing up 30+ times =(

3. waiting probably an hour in the McDonald's drive-thru line for some food

4. clearing customs with 2 car seats, a double stroller, 2 high chairs, plus a diaper bag, toy bag, and 2 VERY LARGE suitcases! (more than Kendall and I could carry for sure)

5. waiting 2 hours after a long day of travel for the guys to return with the rental cars!

6. the two plane rides with 14 month girls who want NOTHING to do with sitting still

7. Maddie Grace having diarrhea in the bathtub

8. Makenzie wanting NO ONE but mommy and crying for probably 24 hours with very few happy moments  during that time (probably caught what mommy & daddy had)

9. spending 30+ minutes to get sunscreen, swim diapers + bathing suits on 2 babies while daddy is sick and get them down to the pool/beach only for them to cry =)

10. forgetting sunscreen on MG's chin and it getting completely roasted=awful momma!

11. Babies waking up in the middle of the night and at 5am the first few nights there

12. Only sitting in lounge chair once each during the week ( 2 babies require 2 adults in the pool with them!)

McWane Center Outing!

To say the girls had an absolute BALL today would be a huge understatement! They literally were giddy with excitement on our playgroup outing to the McWane Center (a Children's Musuem!) Lots of opportunities to touch, explore, lick lots of germs, were everywhere =) They watched their shadows, put pegs in their holes, played at the water table, crawled through tubes, climbed in and out of ships, boxes, & tunnels, and overall enjoyed every bit of stimulation the place had to offer! We will definitely be returning sooner rather than later! Added bonus is that it completely wore them out which means this mom of twins is thankful =)

14 Months Old! Oh My!

Celebrating 14 months with their 1st ice cream cone!! =)

Dear sweet girls of ours,

Can hardly believe you are 14 months old today! Where is the time going?? Your daddy and I are loving this age and stage and all the “firsts” that you both keep experiencing! We are so in love with you both and we love seeing you learn, discover, explore, and test out every new area, toy, and your surroundings! You definitely are two curious little girls! It is so much fun to see your personalities continue to blossom and see some of ourselves coming out in each of you! Maddie Grace you are so much like your daddy-more reserved, quieter, and we can already see you paying attention to details. Makenzie, you hardly slow down long enough to pay close attention to anything which is more like your mommy. You are spunky and lively and go ninety-to-nothing all day long! You definitely love life already! You both are adorable individually but even cuter when together J We love that you are twins-because you are each crafted so uniquely and yet you share the bond of having a playmate and sister exactly the same age as you. We can’t go anywhere without people stopping us to admire you, touch your sweet feet or your chunky thighs J We think you are pretty cute ourselves! BUT, what we want you to know MOST of all is that you were created by a Sovereign God who loves you infinitely more than mommy and daddy and who fashioned you perfectly just the way you are. As we see you grow, we realize more and more that no matter how much we, as your parents, try to nurture you girls in the same manner and put the same food before you & discipline and raise you with identical ways, that how you both respond and develop will vary greatly =) What a reminder to us that yes we are held responsible for teaching you God’s word and helping shape your hearts towards your Creator, but ultimately it is HE that produces any growth both physically and spiritually. So your daddy and I cling to this truth and pray for His grace on a daily basis that He will sustain us and carry us through this parenting journey we’re on! We love you unconditionally and there is nothing you two can every say or do that will take that love away. Happy 14 months precious babies!

Love, Mommy & Daddy

Things you girls are doing these days:

-help undress/dress by pushing arms/legs through clothes

-LOVE taking things in and out of containers and putting things back in

-Climb in and out of things (especially Mak! Mak loves to straddle any toy)

-push buttons to see result

-sort objects on shape sorter into right holes with a little assistance

-throw a ball (or recently deliver it directly into our hands J)

-love to dip food into things!

-will hand mommy a book when they want it read

-getting rougher with one another; have begun to show signs of frustration if one takes a toy from the other/will hide toys or move them so sister can’t get to them

-understands “NO” and will also shake head no at mealtime; Mak still screams when she’s had enough at mealtime

-inflection in voice while “reading” a book to yourselves (esp Maddie Grace!)

-love our cell phones, keys, remote, tv-anything you can push buttons on (MG especially!)

-explore toys by banging, shaking, throwing

-Maddie Grace “collects” things and makes a pile on the floor or in her hand and will keep going til she can’t hold anymore

-Makenzie carries toys around while walking

-both beginning to point to things (more Mak though)

-beginning to follow commands like come to mommy, sit down, bring me the book, go get the ball

-Maddie Grace wants so badly to be able to get food on her fork by herself

-Maddie Grace LOVES dogs and gets soo excited when she sees on on tv, in a book, or in real life!

-MG sleeps with her bunny lovey while Mak still sleeps with paci & blankie

-Makenzie is very clingy to mommy and will cry around strangers; Maddie Grace will go to anyone and has no fear around new ppl

-aware when pooping now and Makenzie will sometimes go hide in corner J

-still wearing size 3 diapers & mostly 12 month clothes (Mak can still wear some 9 mo)