Day 64: Good Eaters!

I have got 2 eating machines on my hands. There isn't much they will refuse! They like it all...peas, carrots, green beans, squash and corn, farm market veggies, apple and cinnamon oatmeal, pears, and sweet potatoes. We even started the little graduate snacks. It's funny to watch them feed themselves. Sometimes the snack sticks to the back of their hand so they just eat their fingers. It's really cute! They love food and Mommy is so happy about that!

Today I'm grateful I've got 2 good eaters on my hands.

  

Day 63: A Visit with My Sister

I took the babies to a place that well I consider a little like home, a place where I feel comfortable to be lazy, a place where I am known and loved. It's amazing to me how friends can become family. That is exactly what the Lord has done with Kelli and I. I can't explain it, I don't think she could either but somehow over the many years of friendship we have become sisters, this visit truly felt like that. We met up in Kelli's hometown of Marshall (not exactly the most exciting of hang outs but we did pay Dairy Queen a visit) we spent time at her parents, playing with babies, swimming, and just really hanging out. We went to bed early because that's what Mom's of infants do, we talked about the same story most of the day because that's what you have to do when you have infants and conversations get put on pause. Grandma made us her famous fried chicken, and of course we ate Mama's Jell-O, pudding and cool whip concoctions. It was a great visit with family. Both of our families have grown which meant we both had new members to meet. Gram is Kelli son and I am blessed by his joy and laughter. It was so great to finally meet this little guy I had heard so much about...I fell in love instantly! And it was such a blessing for me to introduce my little ones to their "Aunt Kelli". They loved her and she loved them so much. It is such a blessing to see your babies loved by someone you love so much. My really awesome, great, good friend Lindsay came along because I couldn't manage both of the babies on the plane by myself. It was such a blessing to watch Lindsay bless my kids with so much love too! It wasn't exactly the same as Kelli and my younger more carefree days but it was the comfort of home, and the love of family.


Today I'm grateful for a visit with my sister.

Day 62: Vacation to NC

I have been getting e-mails from concerned people wondering if I'm okay because I haven't posted...so sorry!  At this rate it will probably take me until 2015 to have 365 days of gratefulness. Alas, I press on! My life has been filled with traveling lately. My first trip was to Indiana to visit family, then Grand Rapids, MI for the Amy Wenzel workshop, last week we took our first family vacation with the babies to the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina then the babies and I topped it all off with a trip to the great Metropolis of Marshall, IL to visit my best friend, Kelli. It has been such a joy experiencing new things with Zaya and Chase, but it's been a little crazy too as we're all still in the midst of a major learning curve.
So our family and some close friends of ours loaded up our trailer and packed into the Expedition and ventured off on a Great Smoky Mountain Road Trip. Yes, 7 of us traveled in the same vehicle for 11 hours and two took up a lot of space with their car seats, but we survived with lots of fun stories to tell. We played some pretty intense games, hiked to a waterfall, went white water rafting, read some books, relaxed in a great mountain house, and laughed a lot. A good time was had by all and I think now we all dream of having our own mountain house one day.

The most memorable activity was this crazy hike we went on. This was the craziest of adventures I have ever been on and to top it the babies were strapped on and joining in. We packed lunches and left the house to arrive at a trail in the middle of the mountains that we thought would be an easy hike that would maybe take 2-3 hours tops. We headed into the wild and got out about 7 1/2 hours later. Our first stop was at a small waterfall a little below the trail. There was a huge log in the middle of the river/waterfall that was easy to get to and a good place to take a break. I decided I better nurse the babies while others were exploring. So here I am in the middle of the forest, sitting on a log over a waterfall, nursing my son (I think) and it begins to down pour on us. Rain from out of nowhere and I am nursing my baby in the middle of a waterfall...Can I get a world record for this??? Maybe some ladies do that all the time....first for me! When the rain stopped we were all soaking wet and hiked back up to the trail to find a place to stop for lunch. We found a nice place to stop for lunch and hang our some of our clothes to dry. Here I continued in my goal to get the babies fed on another log in the middle of the forest. On our lunch break we ran into a snake...not my favorite part of lunch. After that we loaded up hoping our destination would just be around the corner...WRONG! I think we had to have hiked another hour or longer. I had Zaya in a carrier and my friend and Chase in a carrier. The babies really did love being outside and held all day. They fell asleep when they wanted and snuggled up close to keep warm. They were happy and of course Mommy was worried...What have I put my babies through today??? On this hike we must have crossed between 10-15 log bridges over streams or rivers. Zaya had fallen asleep in the carrier on the front of me and was enjoying the ride when we were crossing a bridge I grabbed the branch hand rail and all of a sudden the branch broke and I was going down with my sleeping beauty on the front of me. I panicked! All I could think was fall on your back, fall on your back so I turned and went down. I don't even know how I landed or anything, it happened so fast. I turned around in sheer panic screaming "my baby, my baby!!!" They finally yelled at me to get my attention and tell me Zaya was just fine. Then she poked up her head and looked around like, "what's going on guys?" I don’t think I have ever been more terrified in my life. Needless to say Mommy was shaking the rest of the hike, but we made it. And all I was thankful for at the end was I had 2 happy, healthy, intact babies! We made it back to our car, hungry and tired and think we all decided to have a day of relaxing the next day!

Today I'm grateful for a fun 1st family of 4 vacation!

Crazy Bear

Our Mountain Retreat

Rain!!!

Day 61: Growing Babies

On Sunday the babies officially turn 6 months old. I can't believe my babies have lived a half a year! It's amazing how fast it has gone by. I think I feel that way probably due to the lack of sleep and an overdose on coffee because we all know it hasn’t really been fast. It's been a crazy 6 months, but so rich in great treasures. Both of them are rolling over, almost sitting up on their own, playing with lots of toys, and talking and smiling at everyone. They even have teeth! Zaya got her 2 bottom teeth last month and Chase's two bottom teeth just broke through. They are eating some veggies. We have tried Sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash so far and they love all of them. Chase decided this month hair is in so he decided to start growing some but Zaya is holding out because she is going to set a new bald trend. It has been such a joy to watch them grow and learn the last 6 months. My world is definitely bigger and brighter because of these two little people.

Today I’m grateful for my growing babies!

Day 60: Amy Wenzel Workshop

Before we left for Indiana I went shopping for some new clothes to fit this new post pregnancy body because I knew that the sweat pants I have been wearing for the last 5 months weren't going to win the coolest girl award with the super trendy, totally hip photographers I would be spending time with. It was my first time since I had the babies that I would be leaving them for a "work day" of time. I don't know if it was the anticipation of meeting my favorite photographer, or the excitement of all I would learn or the sheer exhaustion of getting us ready to go on this trip that made me miss how hard the time away from the babies would actually be. Reality struck me over the head the very first night when I was walking over to the mixer to meet the other photographers and Amy Wenzel. Here I was dressed in my cutest trendy shirt, my hair pulled to the side and my make up done. I actually thought, “I look pretty” but I felt like I was 8 years old and playing dress up. I was also dealing with butterflies in my stomach fluttering in all kinds of directions causing a sort of hurricane in my stomach. As I walked to the mixer I called my husband and rambled on and on about how I haven't been this nervous since high school, "I feel like it's the first day of school and I'm the new kid." I wanted to fit in with my cool clothes and my great hair, but I felt like I was a square trying to fit in a round hole. For the last 5 months my deepest conversations have been with two little people who can't talk back. I didn't know what to do with myself I felt like a fish out of water. I was friendly, I smiled and came up with something to say...something probably ridiculous and out of left field, but something. I wanted to be there. I wanted to meet some new friends and encourage them, I also wanted to learn new things and go to the next level in my photography. I knew this was a dream come true, but I couldn't get past this desire to just be with my babies, in the comfort of my sweat pants, talking baby talk and seeing them smile.

Someone once shared a quote with me and it went something like this, "Being a mother is learning how to live with your heart running around apart from you." It's true! My heart was in our hotel room with Grandma those two days and I haven't learned how to keep living without it near. I find it hard to focus in adult conversation, I have a really hard time being productive, even when they're sleeping I just want to check on them and I have a hard time pursuing my dreams because my heart just wants to see them pursue theirs.

So the workshop was incredible. I was challenged in my thinking about what kind of business I want, I learned a lot in Photoshop and business practices, and I also learned that I know a lot more than I thought I did. I should be more confident in my art, in my capabilities and in myself as a photographer. I was disappointed in myself because I didn't let myself be known, I didn't get to know anyone and I didn't encourage anyone. The things I used to be good at don't come as easy anymore. I'm learning how to live in this new "mom skin". I hope one day I get a chance to meet Amy Wenzel again and encourage her in the place she is at in life. I hope one day I get the chance to be in a room with strangers and get to know some new people and allow them to know me. I hope one day the Lord gives me another chance to be used by Him. I’m afraid I missed it this time.

Today I'm grateful I had the opportunity to go and learn about photography and that the Lord met me and taught me some things about myself.

These are a couple shots from the photo shoot at the workshop.  Let me know what you think.

Day 59: Visit with Family

Yes this post is about a week and a half late but in my defense traveling with twins has a recovery period. It was crazy, a little insane at some periods of time and definitely sleepless but, all in all, our trip to Indiana to visit family was a good one. It is a blessing to see your babies loved and celebrated and that week in Indiana they were definitely that. They met Great Aunts, 2nd cousins and 3rd cousins, Great Grandpas, and Great Grandmas and they were truly celebrated and loved by all.

One of the greatest visits was when we went to spend some time with Phil's 92 years old Grandpa. I have always enjoyed the time I have spent with Harry. From what I know about this 92 year old man in the 2 times I have met him is that he loves living life. The ordinary, everyday life, pulling dandelions, picking up sticks, keeping his yard nice, being with his family, driving his car and going out for fish on Friday nights...he loves it. He really loved meeting his newest Great Grandchildren. He expressed himself with genuine excitement as he held them and said over and over, "wonderful, wonderful this is just a wonderful day!" Harry and Dorothy loved watching them, talking to them and holding them.  They even said, "Alright you guys can go now, we'll be fine here." Mama wasn't about to leave her babies but it was fun to know their hearts to spend quality time with them. That one beautiful afternoon watching two 5 month old babies interact with their Great Grandparents was worth the sleepless nights, the mean looks from strangers on a plane and the all around craziness of traveling with twins.

Today I'm grateful my babies are so loved by family.

Chase and Grandpa Harry

Zaya and Grandma Dorothy

***By the way I figured out my blog finally.  Always before no one could comment unless they were a member of blogger, but now anyone can comment.  So have fun giving me some blog love.*** 

Day 58: Mother's Day Gift

Considering my husband was going to be flying across the Atlantic on Mother's Day and my children are too little to understand the great importance of Mother's Day I figured it would be like all previous Mother's Days in my life...not special. However, my husband never stops amazing me. As I was rocking one child to sleep today for the 4th time there was a delivery to an apartment in Indiana that I happened to be staying. Delivered were a dozen red roses with a sweet card from my wonderful husband. I cried because I miss him, I cried because of his sweet words, I cried because I am so blessed to be living my dream life with my dream man. It makes me happy to make him happy by caring for our children. I love being a Mom, I love being a wife, and I truly love this life. The Lord is so good and so faithful to redeem Mother's Day for me. There was a time Mother's Day was one of my least favorite days of the year. It only brought the sting of bad memories to the front of my mind and reminded me of my loss. Mother's Day is now a day I'm reminded that I have the BEST babies, the BEST husband and the BEST job...MOM!

Today I'm grateful I'm celebrated for being a Mom.