Turning around

To say this week has been a trying week for me as a mom, is an understatement. Monday and Tuesday were awful and I blame most of it on me being sick. And because you don't get a sick day as a mom, I was trying to take care of a sick, yet sweet, little six year old boy, 1 sweet 4 yr. old who is full of energy and 2 sweet 1 yr. old boys that are full of curiosity, energy and need of constant attention all while having zero energy myself. Today is the first day I have any energy and am being a little more productive which makes me feel a lot better. I hate being "lazy" which doesn't really happen in this house, even when you are sick, but still that's how I felt. But God was faithful and I finally had a good nights sleep and woke with energy and patients...something I have prayed for over and over for the past three days...and even better, Bailey was able to back to school which he couldn't wait for. How horrible to be home sick when you are the good citizen this week?!

I am not 100% better, but I don't think I will have to have a nap, which is a first this week and I am actually being a nice mom again. Maybe...hopefully...things are turning around and we will have a better weekend.

***Well...to keep me humble...Landon just somehow reached my very full coffee cup and threw it all over the wall and carpet...not gonna dwell on that though...things are still seeming much better today than yesterday..that's just normalcy here!

Parents night out #2!

Last Friday, our church had another parents night out so we jumped at the offer to continue our restaurant tour with some friends. We had two other couples, the Almquist's and the Sinclair's, join us this time so it was a good size group and a lot of fun. We ate at The Water Grill and it was delicious!!! I had Salmon with an Asian sauce and asparagus and Cory had pasta with crab meat and both were amazing! I tried my friend Kellie's vegetarian plate and it was delicious as well :). Everyone cleaned their plate so I think we were all happy with our meals. I got strawberry cheesecake for desert and it was delicious! We had great food and fellowship with great friends while our kids were able to do the same! We look forward to our next stop on our restaurant tour!

Spirited Art

Last week, my friend Kellie and I took an art class at a place called my spirited art. I have zero artistic ability, but when I saw the pictures on their website, everyone's art looked amazing when it was finished, so I thought why not?! We are researching ideas of fun Mom's night out for our MOPS group next year and so this was research project #1. We had so much fun and walked away each with our own canvas that we painted ourselves. The teacher shows you how to do each step and u can tweak it to make it your own, but for the most part everyone does the same picture. The teach a different picture everyday and we are heading back next week for a friends birthday so i am interested to see if the picture for that will be more difficult or not. It took a few hours to do and again I am no Picasso, but it was such a fun night and a great way to get away from stress and have a creative outlet.

To close for comfort

Landon has to be right against someone at all times...he would prefer it be me or Owen, but anyone will do. It drives Owen crazy sometimes because Landon will literally sit in Owen's lap. Here are some pics I was able to get of him doing this one day...Owen was fine at first, but then he couldn't take it any longer. Poor guy!!

Dear Owen

Dear Owen,

Here you are at a year old...where has this year gone my sweet Owey?!  You are what calms me down most days and I don't want to ever know life without you in it.  You are such a sweet soul and you have a calm and gentle spirit about you.   You are the baby of the family by one minute and I think you like it that way.  You are so easy going and pretty happy with anything.  You are my snuggle bug and there are moments when life gets crazy and I am so thankful I have you to give me snuggles...it definitely gives me peace during the craziness.  You are very curious like your brother Landon and busy too, but in a quieter way if that makes sense.  I know you are up to no good when you aren't babbling though.  You are a talker and love to babble and make noises.  You are the talker and Landon is the mover.  You study our lips as we talk like you are trying to learn how to do it yourself.  You can say bye-bye, mama, dada, uh-oh and make all sorts of sounds.  Daddy went to find you the other day b/c you were quiet and you were in the bathroom playing with all the toilet paper you pulled off the roll...the entire thing!!!  When you eat, you make this humming sound and I heard you making that noise and I found you by the pantry eating cheetos!  You had dumped the entire bag on the floor, had one in each hand and were going to town...you are sweet...but you are sneaky!!   You crawl all over the place and will pull up to your knees on things, but I haven't seen you standing yet.  Your favorite toys are trains and cars.  You love to roll them back and forth on the fire place.  You love to look at books or have us read to you.  You love to watch Dora and Mickey Mouse.  You love when I sing to you and do animal sounds with you.  Your favorite is the pig sound.  You are in NO rush in life with anything and I love it.  You still love to roll around on the floor so I like to call you "roly poly Owey"!  You eventually meet all your milestones, you are just determined to do it when you feel like it and not a moment before.  Even though you can crawl and move around you are still pretty happy to just sit and play with your toys, whereas your brother, Landon, needs to be on the move most of the time.  You play so good!  You don't need to be entertained, you can do that yourself.  You will play for hours by yourself and be perfectly happy.  You are never really alone though b/c Landon is always right next to you, but Landon needs to see where me and Daddy are at all times.  You love Bailey and Sydney and as much as Sydney drives you crazy by constantly being in your face...you adore her.  She makes you smile and just wants to be a mother to you and you give her more patients that she probably deserves.  You have your moments though and you have a BAD temper.  You scream louder than anyone I've ever heard!  I know you are pretty mad when I hear you scream like that so I try to get to you quick.  Landon is needy during the day and you are needy at night.  You both sleep through the night and nap twice a day for 2 hours at a time, but you need to be rocked and snuggled before you'll go to sleep.  Sometimes I have to go in there a few times before you fall asleep, whereas Landon will go right to sleep with no problem.  You two have noticed each other in your bed though so you babble to each other and it takes a while for you to go to sleep which I'm sure will continue as you two grow up.

You are a good eater too.  You are a little pickier than your brother, but you like to check to see if he eats something first and then you'll eat it too usually.  When you are done, you are done though.  You purse your lips tight and refuse to open them or you'll take the bite, but hold your mouth open so it pours right back out!  You are in size 4 diapers and wear 6-12 months clothes and sometimes you wear 12-18 months.  You have a lot more hair than your brother and you are getting your first haircut this week...its starting to turn into a mullet!!!  You love to clap your hands and when you figured out how to do it you would look at your hands like you had no idea what you were doing, but would then laugh b/c you thought it was pretty cool.  You love the bath and try to drink the water and love to splash your hands.  You are so funny...you love to put toys in your mouth and then crawl around that way.  That is how you take them from one place to the next instead of carrying them in your hands...I need to get a picture of that.  You have 8 teeth...4 on top and 4 on bottom.  You are a shy little guy.  It takes you longer to warm up and smile at people, but as soon as I tell you its ok or you see Landon do it then you feel more comfortable and give them your biggest smile.  You make the cutest faces.  You make one where you scrunch your nose and mouth and I cant stand it...I have to pick you up and kiss you!  I can look at you with one look and you put on the biggest smile for me.  Oh my little Owey...I just adore you!  You are very ticklish and love to be tickled!  I can tell when you are being playful and its so cute.  I love your smile, your squishy cheeks and your beautiful blue eyes.  You really are a beautiful baby.  You are stingy on the kisses, but you will give them to me when you know I need one.  You love our dog Maya.  You love hold onto her collar and you will pet her gently from time to time.  She loves you too and will sit next you as long as you want her to.  You LOVE Grandma and you hold on to her necklaces like you aren't going to let her go once she picks you up.  You love my friend Ms. Kara and stare at her until she picks you up.  She loves it and calls you her little boyfriend.  You are very happy at all the times, so when you do get upset, I know its serious.  Sometimes I think you get tired of Landon getting all the holding time, so you'll let me know and I don't hesitate to take you up on it.  You are a mama's boy, but you love your daddy too.  You and your brother are both going through some separation anxiety and it breaks my heart to leave you but you usually do okay after a few minutes (or so they tell me in the nursery at church). I am so excited for this summer with you and your brothers and sister.  I have lots of fun things planned for us and am looking forward to all the future fun times together as a family. 

I am so thankful for you Owey and your sweet spirit.  You are just as sweet as can be and our family is blessed because you are in it.
We love you more than you know and hope you had a great 1st birthday!
xoxoxo
Mama, Daddy, Bailey, Sydney and Landon

Dear Landon

Dear Landon,

Here you are at 1 year old!  I can't believe you are a year old!!!  Lets see Lanny Manny...you are in a size 4 diaper and 6-12 month clothes..some 12-18 months, but not many.   I have no idea how much you weigh, but you are getting ready to go in for your check up so we'll soon find out.  I would guess around 18-20 lbs.  You crawl EVERYWHERE and pull up on everything.  You will take steps while you are holding onto something, like the train table so I know soon you'll be trying to walk.   You are constantly making yourself laugh and its so infectious.  You love when we chase you and you will just giggle and giggle while you crawl away as fast as you can.  You get a look on your face just like Owen does when you are in a playful mood and its so adorable.  You LOVE to play with balls...you would rather play with a ball than anything else.  We have a beach ball that is small, and its your very favorite one.  You pop it up with the top of your hand and then crawl after it as fast as you can and pop it up again.  You will be entertained with this activity forever.  You are so busy and curious and we are thinking you will be the athletic one (Daddy is hoping anyway!).  You love to watch sports on TV with Daddy and have since you were a newborn.  When we went to watch your cousin, Cole, play basketball you were fascinated with it.  You followed them up and down the court the entire game and would get so excited watching them.   You also love to read books.  You will sit for long periods of time just flipping through the pages and studying them very intently.  This you get from your older brother...he used to do the same thing at your age.  You can clap and think its funny to do so.  You are into everything all the time!  You love to play with the dog bowl holder and get into the pantry.  You also love to help me do the dishes, which is pretty cute.  You love to be held at all times.  You would prefer me to hold you most of the time, but you are IN LOVE with your Dad.  When he walks in the door your face lights up.  You love to sit on his lap while we eat dinner at the table and you just smile at him such a sweet smile.  You stare at him with such a look of awe sometimes.  Its really sweet and melts Daddy's heart.  You LOVE Bailey!  You love to kiss him and wrestle with him.  If he is laying on the floor you will very quickly attack him and let out little squeals while you do it.  Bailey adores you too...you and Bailey are Daddy's little mini-me's.   You are ALL boy!  Busy, curious and rough!  You are the older twin, by one minute, and you definitely seem like the leader of the two.  You worry about Owen and are always looking for him.  You love to check to see if he is sitting next to you while you eat in your high chairs and when you are in your stroller.  You two always are trying to hold hands and sometimes you drive Owen crazy b/c you have to be sitting right against him when you play on the floor.  I think Owen needs a little space so he gets frustrated, but you have to sit right next to him or in his lap...literally you will crawl in his lap to see what he is up to and it drives him insane.  I think its adorable though how much you love to be near him.  You have noticed that he has hair and you don't, so you are always trying to pull his hair, which he isn't a fan of, so we are working on you being gentle.  The two of you have a very sweet bond and its been there since you were in my belly.  As you are getting older you are intereacting with each other a lot more.  I catch you babbling to each other and following each other around or stealing glances.  I often wonder if you are talking to each other through your looks.  You look and act nothing alike, but you share something very special that the rest of us in our family will never experience and that is very cool.  If one is upset, the other will look for you and if you can't find each other then you both get upset.  Owen heard you crying upstairs this morning and he sat at the bottom of the steps and cried until I brought you down to him. 

You aren't as much of a talker as Owen is, but you say Uh-Oh, Dada, Mama and you can shake your head "no" at me.  You make the funniest face when you say Uh-oh.  You shape your mouth into an "O" and you hold it in that position for a long time after your done saying it.  Its so cute and I need to try to get a picture of it.  You have the cutest face!  I cant stand it sometimes and have to kiss your soft cheeks.  You have a cyst above your eye that will be removed in a few weeks.  You have 6 teeth and seem to be working on a few more b/c everything goes in your mouth and your shirts are soaked with drool pretty quick these days.

You love for me to ask you what sounds all the animals make and your favorite is still the horse...you like the sheep too and will shake your head while I do the sounds.  Your favorite songs are Pat-a-cake and the Itsy Bitsy spider and you try to do the hand motions with me.  You love bath time and splashing your hands in the water. You LOVE to give kisses and they are full of slobber, but we'll take them anytime we can get them.  You love to sit in front of the storm door and stare outside or bang on it when you see someone.   You are very friendly with people and enjoy when they talk to you.  We took you out to eat last night and you were as happy as could be.  You were so nosy and had to check everyone out to see what they were doing, but you were so happy and smiled the whole time.  You LOVE to sit with us while we eat and I really think thats why you love to be held so much...you just need to up on a level where you can see everything b/c you are so curious.  You are a great eater!  You will try anything and you want to eat at all times.  Right now you eat table food, but I still follow it up with baby food at all three meals b/c I'm not sure you are getting enough.

You have such a sweet heart little Lanny.  You are busy and curious and I can't get anything done b/c you need a lot of attention (you are VERY needy), but you are so sweet and loving and it makes everything else worth it.  You can melt my heart with one smile and your happiness and excitement with life is contagious...I hope it stays with you.  I love LOVED every second of this past year with you.  You and Owen have made our family complete and so much closer.  I have learned a lot from the two of you and it is a lot of fun to watch the special bond you and Owen share with each other.  It drives me crazy when people stare at us when we are out, but I get the fascination and I have to say its pretty amazing to get to witness life with twins on a daily basis.  We are very blessed b/c you and Owen are a part of family.

We love you  more than you know!  Happy first birthday sweet boy!
xoxoxo
Mama, Daddy, Bailey, Sydney and Owen

Here comes trouble...the fast and curious!

I have zero time to get anything done these days because the twins are into EVERYTHING!!!! They are either playing in the dog water bowl, pulling ALL of the toilet paper off the roll (yes all of it), opening the Cheetos bag in the pantry and helping themselves, getting into the DVDs, the wipes box or whatever other trouble they can find!! It's insane how fast and curious these boys are! I can't take my eyes off of them for a second and there are two so it's double trouble! (but also double fun:)

I love the pic of them in the pantry...Sydney put her hat on Owen...poor thing!