Happy Birthday To Me

Well today is my birthday.. and I have realized one important thing in the past year and a half since the girls were born.. If you are going to have twins, do it in your 20s! lol.. I know that sounds ridiculous..but when MJ and I decided to try for a baby, we were thinking "Oh no problem, we can certainly handle one between the two of us!".. but now we have TWO and we are starting to get worried.. lol

We have both started going to the gym, and losing weight. He's being forced into eating healthier because I'm cooking more at home for the girls and I.. After 5 weeks on Weight Watchers, I'm down 19lbs.. Not terrible.. But also pretty boring.. But I suppose doing it the right way takes longer, and since I'm committed to doing this for a year, I've only got time right??

So as another year of my life has gone by I've realized a few things..
1) I'm a dang good Mom. 
Contrary to what other people THOUGHT I would be.. I'm a pretty great mom. I have never been a 'kid' person per say.. I didn't even know if I would have kids, so I think when I told my close friends I was pregnant.. with twins.. they were scared.. Like for real. I know Brandon worried about my sanity..and the girls sanity as well.. Last year on my birthday they were only about 4 months old, and still not that fun.. but this year, they are awesome, and a TON of fun. I encourage them to learn, build, stay outside, explore and be creative. At 16 months they can't really do all of that.. but every day I try to make it count. Even if its something as small as a trip to Sams, I do it because I know they are going to see someone new, or find a new treasure. They are like little sponges right now, so I love getting them out of the house to be curious. I don't spend as much time as I'd like to with them, but every second I'm with them counts, and we make it count.

I read constantly about the best parenting tips, what kids like to play with, what 'wonder week leap' they are going through, and how to best teach them. I cook.. LOTS of great stuff..and thankfully (Partially thanks to Baby Led Weaning) my girls EAT lots of great stuff. They love everything I make..with garlic, with chia seeds, with flaxseed, with spinach.. Its great, and I love how much they enjoy it.

I don't let other people bother me when they try to convince me that their child is a prodigy.. Thankfully I have a pretty good BS meter, so I just laugh it off and move on... and then point and laugh later when thinking about it. I don't worry about doing what 'everyone else is doing'.. I do what works for us, and if you ever look at my girls, you will see immediately that they are truly full of joy. Thats what for sure lets me know that MJ and I are doing a great job. The girls are full. of. joy. So blessed for that.

2) I'm always going to want to be on the radio.  
I have a great job. I work with great people.. I'm super grateful that I have been able to find a good career after leaving radio.. but just like a singer who always wants to sing.. I'm always going to be an entertainer who always wants to entertain. Its my passion, my love, and what I'm supposed to do in this world.. I'll get back to it in some capacity eventually. But in the meanwhile I'm super thankful for my "row" of folks I work with, and the fact that I have an amazing boss, working for a great company.

3) I'm capable of more than I thought I was. 
Twins are double the blessings. Twins are double the fun. Twins are hard. Now that the girls are walking, they are walking in 2 different directions and MJ and I are always chasing them. I don't even WANT to think about the terrible 2's.. It scares me.. My girls are the best babies in the world, but there are still two of them, and being a parent is CONSTANT. I would have never thought I was capable of getting two nekkid toddlers in a bathtub, or carrying both of them when they want to be picked up.. Or getting them both dressed to the 9's for church every Sunday.. But I am. People constantly ask MJ and I? "How did you do it with two?" Well.. what was the alternative? lol.. Giving one back? Shipping one off? God never gives you more than you can handle and I'm happy and proud to see what we have accomplished in this past year.


4) I have great people around me. 
First, I have an amazing husband. Men that have twins, do NOT get any breaks.. When I' was feeding one baby, he was feeding the other.. and as they have gotten older, its still constant. Londyn Lucille is a daddies girl, and there is rarely a time when he doesn't have a baby on his lap, or I'm asking him to help me with something. I think dads that have ONE baby get off a little easier because the baby is predominantly dependent on the mom for everything.. but with two babies, you gotta have 2 sets of hands. No rest for the Weary. I'm so thankful I married the right man and that God built him just for me.

MJ and I are so thankful for our family and our church. These people have babysat, brought over meals, prayed for us, and eased our minds when we thought we were for sure losing them. Having our parents around us always willing to help and our church praying for us, and strengthening our walk with the Lord has been such a blessing to us. Its also been amazing watching our parents form relationships with our kids that are going to last a lifetime. Watching their eyes get excited when one of their grandparents come over has been such a joy to both of us. There is nothing better than watching someone you Love, Love your kids. And knowing we are raising them in a community of awesome church people who love them, help us take care of them, and build them up makes us really proud as parents. We are also super thankful for Uncle Brandon and Uncle Chant who make the girls laugh every time we see them. We have some great friends too!

5)  Happiness & Positivism is a Choice.. 
Everyday we wake up we can choose to be happy, or choose to be miserable. We can choose to focus on the negative things our spouse does that irritate us, or we can choose to focus on the positive. ITs a choice.. You teach people how to treat you, and you train your brain how to think. So if you don't want to be around negative thoughts, you shouldn't hang out with negative people that constantly drain your energy or bring you down.. Everybody has bad days, and everyone has issues.. but the way you choose to handle them is up to you. I have chosen to give my problems to the Lord, and know that we can work through them together, and good or bad, I know and trust that he is going to take care of me. Life is not all rainbows and unicorns.. But through Trials Comes Grace.  I choose to be positive for my marriage, and my children. I choose to focus on the blessings of my life than everything I don't have, because my blessings are over flowing, and my troubles are pretty meaningless compared to others.

So as another year goes by I can only get excited about the possibilities of greatness. Fun with my girls, Quality time with my Husband, and spending time with those people who are near and dear to my heart. I can't beleive the Holidays are already approaching! This is going to be such a fun season!

We are headed to the farm this weekend to take the girls to the Fall Festival.. Then we will let them visit Pops and Grammy, and we are going to try to take some pics of them with twin baby calves that Papa had on the farm. We are bottle feeding them, so it will be perfect. My life is never perfect, but I could not ask for more.

Weight Watchers is Watching me..

So yesterday I started weight Watchers.. For the past 2 years I've eaten like total crap. Its been a BLAST I tell you.. for the first year I was pregnant, building giant babies.. Which I did (6.03, and 6.16lbs).. and then the 2nd year I was breastfeeding and burning calories like a crazy person.. so I lost the baby weight.. but Now I need to get serious.. and lose weight.. get some energy and kick it up a notch.. because if you haven't noticed, both of my babies are running.. in opposite directions!

In the past I haven't given two craps about working out because I was full of endless energy and magic.. Enter pregnancy and motherhood and that all went out the Do'... So we have to start again. I'm hoping that by going to the Loves gym at least 3 days a week I can get some more energy, and work on some heart healthy crap or something.. I'm not excited about it.. but I am on day #5 now and its not terrible thus far. I went to the Steelman Clinic and got appetite suppressants.. which are kind of a must at this stage of weight loss, so don't judge me..Last night we went to 501 and I had to say No to the delicious array of treats at the front.. and that was not cool.."Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".... Whoever said that has obviously not had a salted Caramel Bar from 501.

So Gigi & Papa came up yesterday and are taking the girls to the Zoo today. We took the girls after they turned a year old, but at that Time LL was not walking.. and We didn't let Cross be free.. Mom just sent me a picture of them in the petting zoo, and I'm betting they had a hard time convincing Cross to leave those Goats. She loves all animals.. even weird ones.. So I'm guessing she had a great time. After the Zoo they were going to have a nap (Both the girls and Papa, lol) and then they might go to the Botanical gardens later.. It will be a fun weekend.

We have been watching two new shows on FX. The Strain, and Tyrant.. They are both Great.. and creepy.. The Strain makes me paranoid about diseases and deadly creatures killing us.. and Tyrant makes me never want to leave the country, so there you go.. 

So we are all doing good.. We are doing a new lesson at Sunday School. Its been pretty funny so far. We took a little personality profile quiz that said whether we were a "Lion, Otter, Beaver or Golden Retriever".. Well shockingly.. I'm a lion, and MJ is a Golden.. Which once again shows how opposite we are.. but also how great we come together. Over the next few weeks we are going to talk about how our 'animals' interact and how we can make our marriage and communication better.. I'm excited about that class.. its been really funny so far watching the other couples. If you want to take the Quiz.. its HERE

This is how the girls look each night before bed.. They go and get their favorite Ladybug book bring it to Daddy, and then crawl up on his lap to have him read it. They always pick the same book, and they always crawl up his leg. Pretty much the cutest thing ever from both him, and them. I'm blessed to have such a great husband, and two sweet girls. I have a great life.. 

Its all fun and games.. Until you have two..

Well I think I can successfully say we are 'over the hump'.. Lol, or at least on the downhill slide.. This past weekend we took the girls to the farm, and it was a success! We took them to see Pops & Grammy Joni, and they had a great time.. Then we were able to take them to Mom's Church (Trinity fellowship) and let she and Papa Steve show them off.. Yes, My mom might have went a bit overboard with their outfits, but they did look like living dolls!!

Church is about an hour and 45 minutes.. I just knew for sure, we'd make it for about 10 minutes.. lol.. I mean, I have good babies, but they are still babies, and babies cry and fuss.. Especially if your name is Crosslee..so there's that.. The funniest part was Cross LOVED the music.. she would be quiet and watch when the music was going, and then fuss and squeal when they would pray.. Apparently she doesn't care for prayer right now, lol. So once Pastor Andy started preaching, Jordan took Cross outside and they were able to listen in the lobby.. Cross was nice out there as long as daddy was rocking her, so she went to sleep.. Londyn acted like an angel, and went to sleep and didn't make a peep..

Everyone says that Crosslee acts like me, and I'm "Payin for my Raisin'.. WEll this could be true, and everyday I thank the Lord that there are not TWO of her.. Yes, she is hilarious.. she smiles with her whole face, and when she is 2 I think she will probably be on TV dancing and singing somewhere.. but as a baby ME, she's a little hard to handle.. lol.. For those of you who know me, you know what I mean.. She loves music.. she loved being in front of the church (When they introduced us to mom's church).. She loves outside.. She loves animals.. and she has a high sense of urgency.. (Yes, she wants it now..no waiting)..She will smile for you, but you better do something funny for it.. No smiles for free with that one. She also doesn't want you to kiss on her all the time!  She is mine..

Then there is sweet Londyn.. We think she acts like MJ.. She's pretty well content as long as she's had a nap, and food.. She's so sweet, and she looks just like a gerber baby! She smiles when you talk sweet to her.. She really only fusses when you change her clothes.. She hates that and acts like you are chopping off her head when you do it.. She loves to be rocked and cuddled, and she lets you kiss her as much as you want. She is MJ's..

Isn't that cool how God works? One of each with such distinct personalites at such a young age. I tell you, we did NOT plan for twins, and it pretty well scared us to death, but now we couldn't imagine how it would be with just one of them. We are a pair, and they are our pair..along with our pair of furry babes, Payslee & Sawyer.. Its a complete unit, and a great one at that. If you ever want to know how God works, just ask us, and we can tell you and show you our story.

Running with the pack..

Well we have made it to 9 weeks now.. Still in survival mode with the girls, but its getting better.. We took them to get checked out last week and they have underdeveloped tummies which made their stomachs hurt, which in return made them holler and scream.. so we got them some baby Zantac, and they are partying down now.. Ok, not really, but they do appear to be feeling better.. I went back to work last Tuesday.. I missed their faces, but it was nice to be back at work.. I enjoy what I do, so It was nice to be welcomed back. I have some projects that I'm going to start on pretty soon, so I'll get that going. I love completing tasks..what can I say, I'm weird in that way.. When I was on the air, I would say "I love entertaining"..but since there is no one asking me to be funny or entertain them here, I have to just go on with completing tasks.. so thats where we are at on that deal..

The girls get their shots this week..I"m kind of a loser. I didn't even send out birth announcements, but with twins you never feel like you are caught up.. So they should be thankful I've even filled out some pages in their baby books and taken pics of them.. Speaking of pics, they are getting pretty cute. I put Crosslee in a Ralph Lauren hat the other day, and she was pretty sweet.. She still has rage moments, but she is getting better.. Sometimes you want to look at her and say "Really? Why are you so angry? You have everything you could possibly want and more, yet you spit in my face"... But like I said, she's getting better, so I guess we'll keep her! ;) This is her judgment face.. She looks like this a good portion of her life..lol..she didn't even smile at us till she was 6 weeks old!

We are going to go back to the farm this weekend, even though last time it was a disaster.. Crosslee didn't get any naps and then didn't sleep well.. so that Saturday she woke up a screamin demon, and it was NOT good for anyone.. she pretty well hollered the whole day.. but Now that we know she has to keep her schedule, have naps, and has her tummy meds, I think she will be back to her jolly self. In theory.

I was so sad to learn this weekend that Kidd Kraddick died. Since I left radio he is the only show I've really enjoyed listening too. There's just not much by way of Oklahoma radio that is that great to me, so I downloaded the I heart Radio app, and listened to his show out of Dallas. I guess he had a brain aneurysm on the golf course and died while he was on his Kids Kids golf tournament trip.. So sad.. Today the others on the show (J-si, Jenna, Kellie & Big Al) took calls to celebrate his life.. ITs weird to think how attached you get to people you don't even know..but I know some listeners were like that for me when I left the airwaves, so I'll always appreciate that.. I hope they keep the show going so I will have something to listen to each day, but I think it will be hard to go on without their ring leader, host, and namesake..

So I saw "Grown Ups 2".. Man what a turd of a movie.. It was so bad that MJ and I almost walked out.. which is really sad, b/c I love Adam Sandler and all those guys.. but it was NOT funny.. full of stupid fart jokes, a Computer generated deer that pee's on people.. Dumb characters, no plot.. etc.. It was just bad. Shame on you Sandler! I've always loved your dumb movies in the past! WE are going to try to go see Red 2 this weekend maybe, or something else.. I need me some popcorn. IN other exciting news.. Not really.. I've lost all but 3 pounds of my pregnancy weight.. which would be amazing to say, but I was losing weight BEFORE I got pregnant, so its not that amazing.. But still, lets celebrate it ok? Thanks.

 What else? Well we tried to take the girls to church again yesterday.. We did it..but Cross ended up having to sit outside the whole time b/c she just cannot be quiet.. Maybe she will be able too someday, but until then, its off to the nursery. Since they get their shots this week, they should be able to go to the nursery soon! I have missed the music at Crossings so much, I'll be excited to be back in action!! Speaking of that.. We are also going to try to pick up our therapy dog visits again soon.. Brandon or maybe Chantry or Lauren can come help out on Thursdays so Payslee and I can go visit. Miss P is ready to go!

I finally went and got my hair done! Geez.. I had to apologize to Nicole because I'm not sure I had even brushed it in 6 weeks! lol.. By the way, it looks fab..and if you need a hairdresser, call Nicole at Changes Hair Salon..She is fabulous, and in turn makes ME look fabulous!! Oh, speaking of fabulous.. I'm also going back to the dentist soon.. I know you people are saying, "How can she still need work done after a root canal, 6 crowns, & 22 fillings?".. Well I can.. Thank Goodness I have a great Dentist with Dr. Jim Cox.. I'm going to try to talk him into giving me root canals in all my teeth.. He won't, because he's a great dentist, but Man, I get so sick of my teeth being sensitive.. And I'm going to be honest, I enjoyed the root canal.. He's THAT good..Its my own fault.. I keep eating flavor ice & sunflower seeds.. Shhh.. don't tell him..  XXOO..K

Survival..

Well we are seriously in survival mode now.. The girls are now 7 weeks (will be 8 on Saturday) and people keep telling us "Oh wait.. it gets better...it gets easier.. they will grow out of this".. and we are honestly tired of hearing that.. lol..Not that we don't appreciate the words of encouragement.. but when you are living it, you think "ITS NEVER GOING TO GET BETTER! YOU ARE ALL LYING TO US!!".. Yes, we know its going to get better.. but does it seem like its going in slow motion? Yes, Yes it does.. Its a good thing they are cute...

As most of you know, prior to having babies, I was not a 'baby' person.. so yeah, let go ahead and have two at a time right! lol.. Well I couldn't help that part, but yes, it was quite ironic that me,the non baby person, ends up with two at a time.. Such is life, and Yes, God is funny.. Its hard right now because we don't ever sleep..Jordan has gone back to work, so its hard for him to get up all night with the girls (we each take a baby at night) then go to work at 5:30am each day.. I go back to work next Tuesday, and it will be hard for me.. Its not like I'm getting to take naps all day, or anything.. but I am getting to schlum around in my ugly clothes and not be responsible for anything but myself, and the girls.. So we will see how it goes next week when I go back..

You know what has saved our Sanity?? LaPoppins.. Well actually two things.. Grandparents, and LaPoppins.. Who is Lapoppins you ask? Our Nanny! We found her on care.com, and we just love her.. We struggled with whether to get a nanny or to take them to daycare.. but if you have ever had to pack up a child in the morning and haul all their stuff (much less 2 of them) then you will understand why the nanny situation already looked much better to us! Plus, its so much nicer having someone come over to the house and play with the dog babes, and keep the girls away from sickness & outside stuff.. So this is where LaPoppins comes in.. No, her name is not actually LaPoppins.. Chantry nicknamed her that.. Her actual name is Donna, but Chant combined that with Mary Poppins, and thus the name LaPoppins! She's been coming over and helping out during the week and its allowed Jordan & I to go to the movies and enjoy some time out of the house, since we really haven't left the house a whole lot.. So its working out great!!

We have so enjoyed the rain too.. Crosslee likes walking outside and looking at stuff.. She will sit in her table for two and look outside..Or she likes it when Jordan & I talk to her while she is sitting.. She's started smiling more.. Londyn now laughs.. she is more easily amused than Crosslee.. they are both starting to get really fun, but they still only sleep a few hours at a time in the night.. then by the time you get them back to sleep you have wasted another hour.. So on most nights, Jordan & I are sleeping about 3-4 hours, which after 8 weeks gets rough.. But.. "It will get better".. yeah, I know.. so we've heard.. lol.. Plus when Jordan gets home, they are in their 'witching hour'.. which means they are hollering and mad for about 3 hours before their bath.. Its about 5-8, and baths at 8, so he's like "Well isn't this pleasant to come home too!?!".. but each day they get a little better about that, so hopefully its a 'phase'.. isn't that what everyone says when their children are being terrible?? Yes, its gotta be a phse! lol..

We did manage to get to the movie on Saturday.. We watched "Pacific Rim".. We went to Penn square mall, and apparently they re-did the theatre, and its flipping awesome!! All stadium seats in there that recline!! So nice.. Movie was good too.. Its about giant fighting robots..so how could THAT not be good.. We watched it in 3D and the 3D was really good, so we enjoyed that.. Its an AMC theatre now, so we will certainly go back!!

I think we might go back to the farm this weekend.. Crosslee has been missing her cows and tree's blowing.. We'll see if we get brave enough to do it again.. Thank the Lord for the rain..Such a blessing!

Some twins cause pair annoy-ya~Uh thank ya!!

Well I hope everyone had a great 4th of July.. We did.. We decided to head West to visit all the grandparents out there and absorb their help with the girls most of all!

Packing wasn't as horrible as we thought it would be.. Mom had a bunch of stuff at her house, so we didn't have to bring much.. We went out on Wednesday evening. The girls started out good in the car, and then about Pendelton's (Foss) decided they had had enough and being to squawl.. Londyn calmed down, but Crosslee is persistent and managed to cry until we got to my mom's house.. Thankfully Gramma Robs was able to soothe her and she got excited about farm visiting!

We had a great time! Steve cooked steaks for us on one night, Ribs another, brisket, chicken.. I mean seriously, we were fed well! Mom & Steve volunteered to keep the girls on Friday night and sent MJ & I to a motel room for a full nights rest.. So we said Yes!

We of course had to go to Simon's catch and had delicious catfish, and then to bed! Of course I can't sleep the whole night because I have to get up and pump (lame) but not having to wake up every 2 hours was heavenly! We truly enjoyed our night.. until we got back home.. The girls were not very cooperative for Mom, and neither were Sawyer & Payslee (WHAT!).. Apparently Sawyer barks and cries when I'm not with him and acted like a tool bag for my mom..So she got zero sleep, and that made us feel bad.. So probably not doing that again for awhile, but the thought behind it was amazing, and I love love love my mom for agreeing to try to help.

The girls did have a blast at the farm.. Crosslee loves outside time. You can take her outside and she instantly relaxes. She loves watching the trees and leaves blow. She loves the loud music that Papa Steve plays on his boombox, lol.. She loves the sounds outside, and Im' pretty sure she's already a farm girl at heart.. Both the girls loved Hot tub time! The Temp of the hot tub was perfect and they would have stayed in there all night! Here are some pics.. As you can see, they are enjoying their time..

We also got them dolled up for the 4th of July, and took them to Sentinel to see the other set of Grandparents.. We met Grant, Lexi, dad & Joni at the Sentinel Park and all the grand kids were decked out in their 4th of July gear.. We got a pic but as you can see, not all were Cooperative.. Sadly for Joni & Kirb, I'm thinking this is going to be their life! Can you imagine Christmas this year!! Lexi (My sister) has a little boy, Joe, who is 8 months.. My brother Grant's daughter, Ava, is 9 months, and then we have my twins (6 weeks).. so its going to be a blast.. I love Joe..He is hilarious. He is the happiest, most joyful baby! Its unreal.. Of course my sister is also happy, laid back, and joy filled, so I suppose this makes sense.. We joke that Londyn & Joe will be friends, while Ava & Crosslee try to dominate and take over the world!! We all had a great time. Ava was all dolled up in her bows and necklaces.. cute cute!!

 

Well, being that I'm home by myself some now, I've had to find ways to quiet hungry, crying babies.. So far I've put up boppies, and bottle props.. It helps, and it works.. I think as a mom of twins you just have to do what works, whether its PC or not.. I'm sure the birth police would come after me, but such is life.. Since I took this pic, my mom got us something called a "Table for Two" that has two seats, side by side, and I can prop the girls up in that.. even has bottle holders! Nice!! In the sunglasses pic up top, they are chillin' in their table for two..

 So we had a great time at the farm..and realized that traveling with them can be done.. However, it does take awhile..but its worth it to let the grands' spend time with the girls.. Papa Steve is already talking about getting them mini cows that they can show.. Of course I am super excited about this.. because hey, who doesn't want a mini cow??!? Plus, I want my girls to be farm girls.. My best memories are farm memories when I'm showing cattle, or shooting baskets in my barn, Or doing my 'gymnastics' from a hanging carcass bar in the barn (A bar hung from the top of the barn used to bleed deer after the are shot..Hey, sorry, I didn't know at the time this is what it was.. I just thought it was a sweet bar for me to swing and flip from..who knew..lol)

I loved riding 4 wheelers, or jumping on hay bales.. Building a fort with my dad, climbing tree's with my brother Grant, and of course I LOVE animals.. So I'm super excited to share the farm with my girls.. There's no app, or video game that can come close to farm living!

Plus, can I just say how blessed I am and the girls are, to have 4 sets of grandparents?!? I mean its awesome! 4 sets of folks to watch them for us when we need some time, and 4 sets to love them up! Such a blessing.. I can honestly say I'm so glad my parents are divorced.. I know that sounds bizarre, but I'm so grateful that both my mom and dad found people who they love, and I have my halfs, and step brothers and sister.. I love my step-parents so much, and I'm just so grateful that my girls will have so many people that will love them and spoil them!! I know divorce is not the greatest thing, but I think you have to find the positives, and my life has certainly been tons of positives because of it with even more people to love me, and for me to love. Plus my parents are happy!

So.. about the girls.. Well Crosslee is a bit devilish.. About 5:00 in the afternoon, if she has not had several good naps, she turns into a beast.. Now I know what you are saying by looking at her sweet face on the left there.. "What? How can that be true?".. Well it is.. She can scream louder than any baby I've heard.. And don't think you can wear her out..you can't.. She's stubborn and impatient already.. MJ blames me.. but I don't think that is ALL me.. lol.. Thankfully when she gets naps, she's good, and a happy girl.. She loves Music, loves me to sing to her, and loves being outside. When they took her outside at the farm, she instantly quit crying and just took it all in..

Londyn is very easy going and laid back.. UNLESS you don't give her food in time.. Then she will act like you have starved and punished her and she will wail until she gets her food! She does not like to go to sleep..she would rather watch the wall, or the ceiling and just hang out.. She doesn't fuss.. just has no use for sleeping.. (We shall hope that changes as she gets older, lol).. She is getting so big! Has graduated from the newborn clothes, to the 0-3 now.. We go back to get their shots on the 31, and I'll be anxious to see how big they are! Both of them are pretty good at night.. They still get up every 2-3 hours,but thats expected because they have little tummies that don't stay full very long.. but they are pretty good at getting up, eating, then going back to bed.. Its rough..but doable..

So Mom bought the girls these fantastic hats.. Because what  week old doesn't need a hat?? Right? As you can see, Cross was very serious about her hat.. She told me she was ready to greet the Royal baby for Tea.. Londyn told me she didn't care for the Royals, nor did she care for the hat..

So I go back to work on the 23rd.. I'm nervous about going back.. but so thankful to have found a great nanny to stay with the girls.. Miss Donna has been coming by this week and helping out and she and I will get a schedule in place by the time I go back.. It will be hard to leave them, but I am happy knowing I'm leaving them with someone who truly cares about their well being and happiness.. I'm blessed in that regard too.. Life is good in twinland!

We haven't been back to church and I miss it so much.. but the girls get their shots on the 31st, and then we will be less worried about taking them out. I'm ready to be able to go back to worship, and Sunday school!

Sleep? I'll sleep when I'm dead... Not really.. I'm tired.

Well here we are.. 5 weeks into the twinliness.. Girls are doing good. We are *trying* to put the on a schedule.. haha.. I know you are laughing, but seriously, everything I've read, and everyone (twin mom's) I have talked to said its important to get them on a schedule..

 

So we've been going with the "E.A.S.Y" schedule.. Easy= Eat, Activity, Sleep, then Your Time. So far,its ok.. I'm not going to lie.. its hard.. Especially when I'm by myself and they both wake up screaming at the same time, the 'activity' portion gets a little sketchy, lol.. Plus, who wants to wake a sleeping baby? Yeah, we do.. why? because we want to sleep at night.. so after about an hour and a half we wake them up for eating and activity time.. They are still waking up every 2 hours at night, but hopeful that as they put on more weight, and get older, they will go for longer stretches. Radio prepared me for little sleep, but this is a whole new level of 'little'..

Each night Jordan & I have a designated baby.. Crosslee is usually my baby.. she wakes up every 2 hours like clockwork.. But, she's pretty good about going back to bed.. but by the time I get up with her, feed her, put her back to bed, & Pump, its an hour.. so I'm up and hour..sleep 2, then get up again.. I'm hopeful this will get better. If not, I'll learn to love Espresso I suppose. Everyone keeps telling us tha 6 weeks is a 'magical' time when they can sleep longer, and all that.. I'm not getting my hopes up.. I will say at this point, having ONE baby seems pretty doable..If you ever had twins, then had one you would be like "WHAT! This is amazing!"..

Last week My dad and Joni came up and kept the girls for a whole day so MJ & I could go run around.. IT. WAS. AMAZING. Lol.. We went and got Pedicures, a massage, and went to the mall to shop a bit.. We so enjoyed our day! Well I did.. MJ said the massage folks beat him too hard and he was sore.. He apparently does not enjoy the 'deep tissue' massage, lol.. The girls had a great time with Pops Kirb, and Mama J, because that night Londyn slept for 5 hours! We may have to pay them to come back and do whatever they did again.. lol.. Then they came back on Thursday morning for a few hours and we took the dog babes to their field and let them run free.. So we enjoyed that time. Thankfully we have so many people around us that are willing to help out with the girls and give us some free moments. My mom and Jordan's mom have been coming by as well and giving us 'movie' breaks.. We watched "World War Z" last week with Brad Pitt & the Zombies, and it was GREAT! Loved it.. Then Saturday we watched "The Heat" with Melissa McCarthy & Sandra Bullock..and it was HILARIOUS. Loved the creative cursing, lol.. Reminds me of me' ol' radio days..

We got all our Newborn Pics back.. and Ali J, did an amazing job.. Just look at our angels.. yes, they "LOOK" that way.. but there are times when Crosslee acts a bit devilish.. She can rage with the best of them. Londyn is more reserved, but she can get going too.. Papa Steve was apprehensive about holding them, but look how cool this picture is! Both the girls and he will cherish that little moment..

 

We are heading out West for the 4th of July. Mom wants to introduce the girls to all her friends. No fireworks, but I'm sure it will be exciting figuring out how to 'travel' with the girls, and the dogs. So pardon our drooping eyes in the picture below.. We are pretty tired..but we are hanging in there, and making it happen, and the girls are doing really good..

We made it a month!!

 

WEll.. The girls are a month old..Can you believe it? Yes, they have made it.. and we have made it.. so Success! Here is their 1 month old Pics.. As you can tell, they are not thrilled with it..Londyn is still bigger than Crosslee (right) but Crosslee's legs are as long as Londyn's, so she's not too far behind. So far they don't seem to care about each other too much..I'm sure that will change!

 

Joy (Ali J Photography) came back and took some more pics for us.. We talked Papa Steve into holding the girls.. We knew he would be scared, but we kinda flung them on him, and it worked out pretty good.. Look how cute they are in their OSU stuff..

Of course we had to get mom in there too.. Londyn and Cross were pretty cooperative. It was a nice day and we were at this pretty church with lots of greenery, so they turned out really cute..

So Yesterday MJ & I got brave and decided to take the girls to our Sunday School class.. We had missed everyone, and wanted them to see the girls.. So we got them up, ready, and ironically we were EARLY.. lol.. Don't worry, I'm sure that won't happen too often.. We enjoyed it, but man, we are scared to death they are going to start flailing and crying, or something.. so yes, we made it, but yes, it scared us.. lol.. I think next time we are just going to get them out of their car seats and give them to Laura & the girls in class and let them entertain them while Terry preaches.. I was so glad to be there though, because I had missed hearing Terry preach.. We will go back.. Not sure how soon, but we will go back.. lol..

I will say, for the most part, the girls do pretty well.. They like riding in the car, and like riding in their stroller, so as long as we keep them moving, we are good! I got brave last week and took them to the park and took the dogs with us, so they could run free.. everyone had a good time.. Sawyer likes the babies now.. he always liked them, but Miss P didn't let him get close to them for awhile, so now he likes to jump up there and lick their toes.. Miss P lets him do that..she's very protective, and such a good baby sitter!

I went to my checkup at Dr. Goff's.. as I was sitting there in the waiting room looking at all the pregnant women, I kept thinking "Keep them in! Keep them in!" Its so much easier! Although, man, does my body feel so much better now that they are OUT.. I literally felt better the second I had them, lol.. Now my back is trying to remember how to walk without the added weight of twins, lol.. It takes awhile to bounce back, but I literally lost 20lbs the second I had them.. I've lost around 40 now. Breastfeeding makes you lose the pounds like a Boss..

I am now keeping them by myself during the week.. I made it through last week, lol.. It was touch and go for awhile, but we made it! Yesterday mom came over and kept the girls while MJ & I went to watch "World War Z".. Man! It was good! Its about Zombies.. which yes, sounds ridiculous.. but Brad Pitt is in it, and its actually really good.. It gets into it FAST too, like in the first 2 minutes of the movie.. You should go see it.. We both really liked it.. and the popcorn of course.. Plus, has anyone else noticed that Brad Pitt looks good no matter the role? He can be dirty, crazy, homeless, cleaned up, long hair, short.. etc.. All good.. so go see it.. We saw it in 3D, and scary fast zombies in 3D is impressive..

So here we are.. a month later.. Lives changed and blessed forever. Its rough, I'm not going to lie.. there are times when they both start screaming at the same time and MJ and I are looking at each other like, "well what now?".. but we know that God only gives twins to people who can handle it, so we know that if it doesn't kill us, it will make us stronger...............right??!? lol..

Don't be THAT guy..

Well The girls are now 3 weeks old.. I'm sure to YOU it seems like its gone by fast.. Not so much for MJ and I.. The baby phase is ROUGH.. Especially when they are like "Sleep through the night? No thank you".. They get up every 2 hours to eat.. So far MJ and I have been taking a baby each and we get up with our baby and pass each other in the night.. lol.. I've heard of other ways to do things, like he stays up for 4 hours with them, then I stay up.. which would probably be legit if you only had ONE baby, but alas, we do NOT. Our girls are not really on the same schedule, so I fear if we did that there would really be ZERO sleep for us.. So right now, we are just going for survival. Last night was a good night.. We still got up every 2-3 hours, but between all the getting up, I think we DID get at least 5 hours of sleep.. so yay us right! lol

MJ took off last week, and also this week, but  I've convinced him to go back to work today.. I mean really, at some point, I'm going to have to do this myself, so might as well just throw me into the pool, and we'll see if I sink or swim! I got brave today and decided to put on the baby bjorn and walk around the blocks with a baby.. It was a success.. No baby was dropped, and I didn't drop dead.. so boom! So Today I loaded up the girls, and we made a trip to target to get some baby stuff, and some fenugreek.. Which they didn't have.. annoying. The biggest trip in shopping with twins, is you roll in pushing this train like stroller with their car seats in it.. So then where do you put your groceries/items? NO where.. So then you end up strapping the diaper bag onto the stroller, then you end up either pulling ANOTHER basket behind you, or carrying one of those little tote baskets.. So you get the visual.. Its bizarre.. Of course you can't really stack items on their seats, or put in the bottom of the stroller, because then you look like a thief.. Blargh.

We also considered (for about 2 minutes) taking the girls out to eat.. yeah.. we weren't brave enough. Granted, they do a good job out in public for the most part.. But for the past 30 years I've wanted to punch all the parents in the face that take screaming, crying, baby/toddlers to restaurants.. So I'm certainly not going to be THAT guy..

For all the women who tell you C sections are terrible.. let me be the one to say "BS".. Maybe it was my amazing doctor, but man, I think thats the way to go! I was back in action, and feeling pretty much like myself a week later.. I even carried Mulch and decorated the flower bed! I had forgotten I was not supposed to lift stuff.. but it all was ok.. Also, I am able to drive, and have been since I came home, and I'm able to take my awesome, hot baths again! AHH! I had missed my baths, and my wine the most, so that has been amazing!

We got our storm shelter ordered.. It won't be installed until next year, lol.. Yeah, they are a bit behind due to crazy demand.. But after having to run from the storm when my girls were a week old, lesson learned.. we are getting a shelter. It will be the kind that goes in the back yard, not the garage.. the garage kind make me claustrophobic.. When that storm was headed toward Yukon, MJ packed up us, the girls, and my mom and we moved South to get away from it.. Only for it to follow us to Moore/Norman.. We got into a Cellar at MJ's dad's neighbor's house, and we rode out the storm there.. The girls were AMAZING. No one even knew we had babies in the house! They did a great job.. We got home and just crashed, and the next day looked into getting a shelter.. So hopefully will be installed by next year.

So Mom went home a week ago.. MJ and I were on our own last week. The girls are still alive, so I consider it a success. I hope I am saying the same thing next Friday after I've had the girls a week by myself. So far so good.. but I'm sure they are plotting a take over..

Well, its a little late to go back now..

Does anyone else find it odd that it requires more proof and documentation to adopt a dog from an animal shelter than it does to have a baby? I mean you have to be more qualified to adopt a homeless dog than to have a hospital just hand over a baby to you.. In my case, they are handing me TWO..You would think they would have me take home one on a 'trial run' to see how I do, and If I pass, then they send me home with the second one! Anyway.. you can see I'm not feeling 'qualified' at the moment.. lol..

The Above passage is taken from my "Jesus Calling" book by Sarah Young. This book is so amazing. It gives you what you need on a daily basis. I decided to look ahead and see what the book said for the day the girls would be born..and Man, it was so dead on. Isn't it funny how God always knows just what you need? So cool.

So here we are. Tomorrow is the big day. We are both scared.. Right now mainly scared that I'm going to do okay, and that they are going to do ok when they get here.. Mainly fear of the unknown. But I know that God will take care of me, and giving MJ and I twin girls was obviously HIS idea, so he's got this. "Be still and know that I am God".. Its going to be hard, and always has been hard for me to be still. I haven't been still all my life.. Heck I'm about to POP and its STILL hard for me to be Still! But I'm going to try, because I know these babies have a lot of lessons to teach me. Did you know that because I am having fraternal, spontaneous, twins, we are 12% more likely to have them again. So guess what? We aren't having any more! Can you imagine.. I get pregnant again, and its twins AGAIN.. and its GIRLS! MJ would die..

I think we have everything ready... except for names. I did find out today we have 30 days. So we CAN leave the hospital without names. I hope we don't get to that point, but thankfully IF WE DO, my brother Grant, the Lawyer, can help us change them if we do leave with them being named "A" and "B"..

With all the tornado stuff that happened this week, its just so sad.. I've been praying for all those families, and those who lost all their loved ones and homes. So cool though to see Oklahomans join forces and help one another. Because of all this, MJ and I will probably be getting a storm shelter.. The weather in OK lately seems to be getting worse each year. I can count on one hand how many times we needed to go to the cellar, or even saw Hail when I was growing up in Canute.. Now we have golf ball hail every year.. and it gets more frequent each year.. Obviously weather is getting more dangerous, so we need to have a storm shelter.. I think we will get the kind that goes in the back yard, because those garage ones make me claustrophobic.

I almost got into a fight the other day at my favorite place.. Cafe 7.. A woman actually tried to steal a table from me.. Seriously? She acted like it was HER table even though she sat down way after me, and when I went to push it together (for my guests I was expecting) she said "You're not trying to take my table are you?".. I didn't want to have to play the "Are you seeing me giant pregnant and miserable card" but I was going to.. I said "Well I was holding this table because I obviously don't fit in a booth anymore".. So she kinda rethinks her rude ness and asks her friend to find another table.. I tell you, you should always be nice to pregnant people.. You never know when they are carrying giant twin girls and their sad bodies are about to give up. I've told people that I have actually felt BETTER these last 2 weeks.. and I think its because my body has just given up. Lol.. I'd give up too if I was it..


M & I appreciate all the sweet comments, prayers, and thoughts from you guys. We are very blessed to have so many cool people around us.. I go in at 7am on Saturday, surgery is at 9.. Should be updating and posting on Facebook for those who want to know how its going. We are all very excited, and scared, but know this will be a life changing experience that will bless us, and enrich our lives. I cannot tell you how excited we are to have our church home and family around us. We truly go to the best church ever. The things they have done for the tornado victims is just mind blowing, and the fact they are making time to come pray with us on Saturday before I go in is just awesome. I love all my Crossings family, and we are so excited to raise our girls there!! What blessings are in store for us! Thank you all for coming along on the journey! I'll report back soon!