Two Lanes of Freedom

I think its pretty safe to assume by now that everyone is sick of Winter.. I was thinking it was extra terrible this year.. then I read my blog last year where I was also crying about it.. so I think the theme is by this time of year, we all get sick of Winter..

Londyn has now had two appointments with her therapist.. so far it consists of Londyn running from  her. lol Londyn is very independent and her favorite thing in life is exploring.. So it is very hard to convince her to stay in one place very long.. She was not much fun at Christmas opening presents because she just ran off! But.. the nice thing is the therapist is very patient and just follows her around. Right now we are working with her asking for things. She's never really had to do that because if Cross asked for a snack..we just automatically gave Londyn one.. Or if Cross wanted a banana, we just gave Londyn the other half.. Plus Londyn is just not a demanding child.. Cross is.. So when she wants something we just give one to LL figuring she will want one eventually anyway.. lol

We'll see how it goes. I'm not too worried about it..She is a super happy girl that loves to explore, play in her sand, and drink her smoothies, so life is good. Being that we have had such crummy weather we have been looking for fun things to do with them.. So we went to the Science Museum last Sunday and had a great time! Londyn loved just running all over the place and they have a nice, enclosed place for the younger kids to play safely.. They both loved the tumbling mats.. Except for Cross thought she was 10 and could tumble with the 10 year olds.. So I had to move her to keep them from smashing her.. But You couldn't convince her that she couldn't 'flip' like they were flipping.. Its a fun place to take Toddlers..and while they are 2 and  under, they get in free.. which is good because for adults its like $15, and we don't get to have that much fun, lol

Mom came up yesterday and stayed the night..then she took the girls to the farm this weekend.. Dad will probably come and get LL tomorrow morning to play with him and Grammy J in Sentinel.. They had Cross last time, so now its LL's turn.. I think its important for them to spend time apart and get to enjoy some 1 on 1 with their grandparents.. plus watching ONE of them is so much easier than BOTH of them.. Other Twin parents tell me that once they turn like 3 or 4 it is much easier than having just one because they will play and entertain each other.. I hope that is true..because right now its just trying to keep them from fighting each other.. Cross wants to play with LL..but LL wants no part of it..

Cross has been getting in trouble this week for being mean to Londyn by pushing her, and taking all her stuff.. and for being mean to the dogs. She LOVES the dogs.. LOVES them.. but has no concept of why she can't chase them.. squeeze them.. or swat them with her broom.. so we have been learning hard lessons this week. Hopefully that will be short lived. Cross has such a kind spirit for animals that I don't think it will take too long..

We aren't looking forward to the so called "Terrible Two's".. Several of the folks in our small group have 2 year olds and it sounds frightening so far.. No one wants to have 'that kid' that bites.. spits.. or hits other kids.. So hopefully they will learn that those things are not acceptable..

I was looking back at my Timehop from a year ago and its been a year since the girls  had their Church Dedication, and since Leslie (nanny) started with us.. What a difference a year makes.. Its been a great one though. So thankful for all the people in our lives that love the girls..and so Thankful for our new small group at church.. We are all so excited to watch our kiddos' grow up together.. What a cool blessing.

I have to say, and this is going to sound pretty sappy for me, since I'm NOT a high-feeler.. Watching the world turn through the eyes of a child has been pretty incredible..

 Everyday Cross finds something new and exciting..and its as small as opening up her play dough container.. she will say "Ohh!!" like its the most exciting thing.. Watching Londyn trek through the snow and smash it with her boots..taking in every step that she takes and listening to the sound it makes.. Seeing the shock on Cross's face when I tell her that Payslee does NOT like to be swept with the broom.. Laughing at Londyn who sings herself to sleep each night with the prettiest little voice.. Giggling at Cross when she says "byyyyeeeee" in a southern Accent when I leave.. or "Oh No!" when something drops on the floor.. The innocence in their faces and the joy is just so awesome to watch..














Here's some things I've learned from my Toddlers

1) Be Careful who you trust-- Cross is very picky when it comes to people she loves.. but when she loves them, she loves them with all her heart. She's scared of strangers, but she warms up pretty quickly once they prove they are 'good' to her..

2) Appreciate the Details-- Londyn loves to examine the tiniest details on things.. the way things work. Sometimes we overlook the details because we are in such a rush to get to the next big thing. She will study magazines, her books and her blocks to see how they are made.. the way the work, and whats inside. She can't be rushed when she is reading her books.

3) Appreciate Surprises-- Some people hate surprises because they like to be in control of what happens next. When you surprise toddlers with something new, or show them a new trick, or even jump out from behind the chair.. its seriously the best thing in their world.

4) Mom's Make Everything Better-- I've always known this about my mom, and I hope my girls always feel that way about me. Cross is going through a phase (its been a LONG phase, lol) where she wants all my attention, all my hugs, and all my playtime. Being that she has a twin, I can't do this all the time, but I always make time for her, even if that means stopping what I'm doing just to pick her up and carry her for awhile. I know she won't always want to be around me every second.. I grew up having the mom everyone loved, wanted to be around, and i was always so proud she was mine. Thats what I strive for. My Mom and My Grandma were the best examples of how to be a good Mama. I'm so fortunate to have both of them.

5) Outside is a beautiful thing--I spend all day indoors, but I've always loved being outside, and so do my girls. They love going to the farm to explore new things.. They love sunshine on their face.. They have no concept of why they can't go outside when its 15..all they want to do is go outside and enjoy that freedom. They don't even need a reason to go outside.. they just want to be out there in God's Canvas..

6) Never overlook an opportunity for an adventure--I let Crosslee walk around the block in the falling snow.. because she thought it was awesome. I can guarantee you that I would NOT have done that had she not kept walking, but she did...and we both had an awesome adventure making tracks in the falling snow, tasting it on our lips, and dancing in other people's yards!

7) Love Your Spouse--My girls are so happy when we are all sitting around the dinner table, or at a resturant. Cross loves to do a "roll call" of who's there.. "Da Mome! (me) "Dae!" (daddy) "EES" (sissy) JA! (the owl) and she smiles so big once she checks off the fact that everyone is sitting there.. Londyn loves it before bedtime when we are all sitting and reading books. They both KNOW we are present, we are there, and we always will be. MJ hugs me the second he gets home at night and gives me a kiss.. I love that they see how much we love each other, and I love how much he loves them, and sees how much I love them.

8) Enjoy your food-- It takes Londyn LITERALLY an hour to eat.. Why? Because she savors each piece. She cracks me up because she smashes the food into her mouth.. but then chews and chews it.. She picks up each piece, looks at it, and then eats it. She loves biscuits.. and she will pick off each piece and enjoys it. Her face lights up when I bring out fruit.. she literally cheers. I've always been in such a hurry when I'm eating that I forget to enjoy the food sometimes, but Londyn is a true example of enjoying her food!

9) Its good to feel pretty-- When I get the girls ready for church I will say "Go Show Daddy how cute you are" and they run into the living room and he picks them up and tells them how pretty they are.. We all like to feel pretty..and like to be told we are pretty.. With all the pressure these days to be 'perfect'.. sometimes we forget to feel pretty with what we have, even if its not perfect.. I'm healthy, I'm able, and I have great eyelashes.. I'm celebrating that.

10) Its Ok to cry when something, or someone hurts you-- I suck at this. I'm not a cryer. I'm not very emotional.. but sometimes I should be.. People assume that because I'm not eat up with feelings that its ok to hurt mine.. Or to speak to me a certain way.. Well even though I'm not a high-feeler that doesn't put up with a lot of crap... it doesn't give people the right to talk to me ugly, or say things that hurt my feelings.. Toddlers are all about instant gratification.. If something happens they don't like, they cry. I sometimes wonder if I could get away with more if I just started kicking, screaming and falling out when I didn't like something someone said or did.. lol.. That would be SO great.

So even though they are little ego maniacs that seem to have some sort of a death wish.. we could all stop and learn a lot from our Toddlers.. The most important being God's Grace. Don't you know he looks down and watches us make the same mistakes every. single. day.. Just like we do with our kids.. but he never quits loving us.. He never quits believing in us.. and he never gives up on us. His  Grace, his love, and his compassion over rides every single stupid thing we do. His love is unconditional, just like my love is for the girls.. Even when they test my patience, test my boundaries, and test my intelligence.. they never test my love.. Just like the love of Our Father, its never ending..

A little less Action.. and a lot more talk.

So for those of you who have never had the pleasure of taking your kids to their 18 month 'well baby visit'.. here's some knowledge I'm about to drop on you..

Being that I have not had kids before.. I didn't really know what to expect as far as baby 'milestones' are concerned.. I mean I figured they eventually learned to crawl, walk, hold their bottle, talk, etc.. But I didn't really know there were hard limits on when they were supposed to do those things.. Everyone will tell you that there isn't hard limits on these things..BUT.. then when you say that your baby isn't walking by 12 months they will say "Oh really? Little Jimmy walked at 6 months".. Whatever.. Move past those people..

Anyway.. When you go into your 18 month appointment you will get the "Autism Screening".. Now, you may not know this is what this is.. for example, it might just seem like a normal questionnaire in which you are answering basic questions about your tot.. but its not. Its a screener for early signs of Autism. I think this is a fine practice.. I'm not mad at the questionnaire.. I think early detection is awesome, and a great idea.. But I will tell you, when I'm in the pediatrician's office with two HEALTHY babies.. trying to keep them from picking up stale puffs on the floor, running their hands all over germy toys, and trying to keep sick kids from hugging them and sneezing on them.. My mind isn't always in the right place to think about every single thing they are doing developmentally and physically..

So because I'm a dumb mom.. I answer truthfully to the questions.. I'm saying 'truthfully'.. because I did answer them to my knowledge.. but sometimes my knowledge is not that accurate.. I'm a mom of twins. I am sometimes losing my mind..and don't know if I'm coming or going.. So sometimes I have a hard time remembering If Crosslee does this, or Londyn does that.. I'm sure all of you moms and dads realize that if you aren't expecting something to be important, sometimes you don't remember it. So Jordan and I end up answering NO to 3 or 4 questions on the questionnaire.. and boom! Londyn has to go and be evaluated for Autism and learning disorders..

I guess the reason why this is annoying to me.. is because all of this is based on what I say.. Like not on what Londyn actually does.. So I felt like I had failed her.. Mainly because after we got home we realized that she does do a lot of the things we said "NO" too.. but oh well.. Now we have an appointment with Sooner Start for her to be evaluated.. I do think its better to be safe than sorry..its a free program, with really great specialists.. and if she does need help, then I want to help her for SURE.. So we go.. and we realize that you will get dinged if your kid doesn't do the following things by 18 months..

1) Eat with a spoon.. Well my bad on this one. My girls did baby led weaning, so they have always eaten with their hands and have never been spoon fed, so they had no concept..and I had no clue that they were supposed to be doing that. My bad. They know what a spoon is..they know what to do with it.. so I thought I was winning. I wasn't.

2) Take their shoes off.. Um, why would I want her to take her shoes off when I had just put them on?

3) Playing pretend.. Cross has played pretend since early on. Every morning she gets all her animals out and pretends to feed and water them.. But since I had never seen Londyn do that I assumed she wasn't 'pretending'.. Little did I know that pretending can be a lot of things..It can be taking your phone and pretending to talk.. it can be taking the tv remote and pointing it at the TV..So Keep that in mind. Londyn DOES do the remote thing..Again, My bad.


4) Pointing. Pointing is BIG to them.. They don't want them to just touch pictures, they want them to POINT at them.. They want them to POINT at their cups and ask for them. They can't just ask for them.. they must point. POINTY POINTY POINTY.. When we got home, we realized that Londyn also pointed..she points at her Pa in the hallway and says "PA".. but we didn't realize this because we didn't know it was such a big deal. It is.. so watch for them pointing. Woops. My bad.

5) Playing with other kids.. No. LL could care less about this. She's not anti-social.. but she's got better things to do in her mind.. like explore, or read a book, or build with blocks. She likes to go and check on the other kids..and sure, she and Cross chase each other from time to time, but Londyn is fiercely independent and likes to do her OWN thing. I don't think this is a weird thing..I just think she likes to do her own thing for now.

Now.. I will say..Londyn does not, and has not ever said many words.. she chatters all the time.. speaks weird languages we don't understand.. but she only has a few words.. Mainly "Mama, dada, Pa, Oh, Wow, and Hey".. Other than that..she doesn't say that many words. LL is not a demanding child, so she has never really asked for things.. We usually just give her something when Cross is asking for
it b/c we figure she will want it eventually anyway.. But she never throws a fit for treats, a drink, a toy, etc.. She's just a pretty mellow girl, like her daddy.

But either way.. Sooner Start came over.. and they are amazing. Sooner Start is a free program provided by the state for early Intervention.. They are great. Its a great program. They had a speech pathologist and a Physical therapist evaluate Londyn and they did a great job. Londyn is not autistic.. She is extremely independent, and strong willed though.. We found out that Londyn was behind in her speech so they setup a person to come out to the house and work with her whenever we requested. (We decided to do every other week).. A lot of parents would feel threatened by this.. but listen, if someone offers your kiddo free help.. take it. LL has her first session this evening and I'm excited to see how it goes. We agreed on 3 goals for her progress:
1) To learn 25 new words or phrases
2) To engage in group play
3) To complete simple tasks upon request.

We thought those were great goals..and I'm excited to see how it goes this evening..

The moral of the story is.. 1) Don't freak out if your kid has to be evaluated.. 2) Don't freak out if someone offers assistance to help you parent or teach your kid how to learn. I'm smart enough to know I don't know much about parenting.. so if someone smarter and more qualified than me agrees to come help..thats awesome.. and they are coming to my house to help? Even more amazing.. So don't worry too much about things. At this stage they are little people and everyone catches up.. Its hard to learn how to be a little human! So give them a break..they will catch up..

If other parents are telling you how "Advanced" their kids are.. its just to make themselves feel better.. Because I'm pretty sure the other Toddlers aren't judging each other for not knowing their multiplication tables at this age..

Master this.. Do that.. and quit doing this.. Blog

So I came across this post that everyone was pinning on Facebook..and I thought it was pretty good. It talks about 10 Life Lessons to Master in your 30's.. Master is a pretty strong word.. but Here's the list..

1) Start saving money for retirement now, not later..
   Ok, for me, this one was easy.. Why? Because my mom's a stock broker and has drilled this into my head from a young age. Anytime I have been offered a 401k at my job, I've contributed. I usually try to contribute up to what my employer will match.. except for at CHK.. because Big Aubs matched 15%.. which is amazing, but I couldn't do 15% at that time.. but it is important. Saving is also important.. because you never know whats going to happen.. especially when you are a home-owner.. Heat and Air System, giant hospital bills, Car dies.. etc.. So Save. Here were a few other things listed:

• Make it your top priority to pay down all of your debt as soon as possible.
• Keep an “emergency fund”—there were tons of horror stories about people getting financially ruined by health issues, lawsuits, divorces, bad business deals, etc.
• Stash away a portion of every paycheck, preferably into a 401k, an IRA or at the least, a savings account.
• Don’t spend frivolously. Don’t buy a home unless you can afford to get a good mortgage with good rates.
• Don’t invest in anything you don’t understand. Don’t trust stockbrokers.

2) Start taking care of your health now, not later.. (I'm also going to add SKIN to this one too for the ladies)
This one is hard for me.. because I. Hate. Exercise. And when I say exercise, I mean like going to the gym, jogging, lifting weights, that kind of crap. I just hate it.. However, I've found that by having 2 toddlers I don't have to work too hard for exercise. For example, yesterday I earned 6 activity points (I'm currently on weight watchers and wearing an Active sync tracker) by just walking around at work, and chasing the girls.. I can handle that kind of exercise.. So I think its mainly about just moving.. I dance at my desk (My Co-workers love the Milli Vanilli Channel with me) and try to just keep moving.

I think its also hard for us to eat Healthy.. Especially in Oklahoma where Steaks, Chicken FRIED Steak, and fast food are dominant. I love food. My whole family loves food.. we celebrate around food.. and that food does not include tofu, radish burgers, and quinoa.. Sorry. That sucks. Even on Weight Watchers, I don't think I eat "healthy".. I just eat "less" crappy foods. I mean I know that's not a great answer.. but I'm trying to make little changes day by day.. For example, I've started ordering a Bountiful Basket 2 or 3 times a month.. It has a TON of fresh fruit and Vegetables in it.. and then I make Smoothies for us every morning. I have to force MJ to drink them, even though they are delicious..he eats VERY few fruits, vegetables and never drinks water.. So I'm working on him too. The girls, thankfully, are really pretty great at eating a good variety of foods, and healthy foods at that..

I also mentioned skin.. because I think if you wait TOO long to start taking care of your skin.. your skin doesn't forgive you. I've always been pretty good at this.. although my 'regimen' is not that impressive.. I wash my face at night in the bathtub.. take my makeup off with Vaseline.. and usually rub some essential oils on my face at night with Primrose oil, or a Giant tub of Vitamin E Cream from Sams. Its been good to me so far. I think I look pretty good..and I think (for the most part) I look younger than I actually am.. I think its just important to at least put some kind of moisture back into your skin.. It will appreciate it.. Plus you won't look 60 when you are 30. So there you go. You're welcome.

3)  Don't spend time with People who don't treat you well.
Sometimes you just have to step back and realize that you are not going to tolerate people who don't treat you well, or bring joy to your life. If you constantly hang out with negative, miserable people, you will eventually also start to feel negative and miserable..

You want to surround yourself with people that make you better, make you happy, and that love you. Learn how to say NO to people, activities, and obligations that don't bring joy to your life. I know people struggle with boundaries because sometimes its hard to say NO, or you are afraid of hurting someone's feelings.. but if you keep hanging out with people who always hurt your feelings, there's really no payoff. I really liked this quote
         "By our 30's we've learned that good relationships are hard to come by, that there's no shortage of people to meet and friends to be made, and that there is not reason to waste our time with people who don't help us on our life's path"

4) Be Good to the People you care about.
This one had some really good points.. Be the Person others can count on. Be the person others look up to for guidance, help, support, etc. I remember when I found out my grandma Leona had cancer that I wanted to make sure those last 6 months I had with her were completely full of HER. Me just being with her, waiting on her, loving her.. because that is what she had done for me my whole life. And I loved those last 6 months we had together. So now I really try to show the people that are important to me that I love them, I'm there for them, and I support them. I hope I can always be that for my girls. Every night before they go to bed MJ and I pray for them, and we say "If you get scared, sad, or sick, just call us and we'll always be here" and we mean that. Forever. We have friends that are going through tough life circumstances and we always let them know we are here. And even if we don't see them everyday, we'll always be here.

5) You can't have everything, so focus on doing a few things really good.
This was a hard lesson for me in my 30's.. because I did exactly what I loved in my 20's.. and into my 30's.. Radio. When that career was taken from me, I had to accept the fact that I could find appreciation in other things.. Now that is my family, but it took a bit to change that mind-set. But I've also realized I cannot be all things to all people. Sometimes I don't make it to Women's bible study because I'm home with the girls. Sometimes I don't make it to co-worker happy hour, because I have to cook dinner. Sometimes, my house looks like crap because I don't have the will, or want-to to clean it! Such is life. It was hard to take the risk of getting OUT of radio.. getting married.. having babies.. But it was a risk worth taking. I once had a friend tell me that your life is in 3's.. Your Family Life, Your work Life, Your Social Life.. Very rarely do all 3 stack up. Usually one is lacking.. but 2 outta 3... ain't bad... (thank you Meatloaf).. So its a trade off.

6) Don't be afraid of taking risks, You can still change.
I'm not a big risk taker.. Well I say that.. then remember I moved to Corpus Christi for a radio job where I knew nothing and no one.. but USUALLY.. I am not.. I do think one benefit of being in your 30's is you are pretty good at knowing who you are.. what you like.. what you don't.. and what you want to do.. What MJ and I consider a 'risk' is sitting at a different table at Sunday School! But I get what the article is saying.. You have to be ok with change.. you have to be ok with not having all the pieces in place.. Lord knows when I found out I was having twins, we were ROLLING THE DICE and hoping for the best! I had no clue about parenting, parenting twins, babies, feeding babies, keeping babies alive.. etc.. But I read, talked to people, joined groups, and we were just winging it for the first 6 months.. Like most new parents.. But thats ok.. the babies are ok. We all are ok.. So don't be afraid to roll the dice.

7) You must Continue to Grow and Develop Yourself.
I always firmly believe this. I think there is always a 'better' version of me that I can be working on.. A better mom.. a better Christian.. better wife.. a better friend.. I am always working on myself and trying to be better. Trying to be more patient.. trying to show more grace. I feel like you should always try to be better.

8) Nobody (still) knows what they are doing.. get used to it.
I watch people make dumb decisions everyday and think to myself.. man.. we learned nothing there did we? But no.. the answer is you cannot convince people to do the right thing.. you cannot convince others to be better.. You cannot convince someone to make better choices.. So just do what you can do.. offer help when you can.. and be ok with that. But realize that people around you are going to continue to do stupid stuff and there's going to be nothing you can do about it 98% of the time. People like to make their own mistakes and you just have to let them. I've also learned that not everyone is on the same path. Especially moms.. you will have to listen to moms who think they know everything and try to make you feel like boot if you don't do certain things a certain way.. Its very much like this commercial:

There's always going to be a kid that knows more than yours.. says more than yours.. has cuter clothes than yours.. Was breastfed till they were 6.. Potty trained at 9 months.. So just get ready for it..And realize that they are probably full of it.. and then look at your own kid, watch their face light up, and pat yourself on the back for being awesome.


9) Invest in your Family.. Its worth it. 
I've realized the funny thing about having kids.. is that my parents want to see the kids all the time.. but they also still want to see me.. Sure, they like seeing the girls MORE.. but they do still like seeing me.. I do miss doing things "just with my mom" because now that I have the girls we both want to take them with us.. But having kids changes the relationship with your parents.. but in a good way.. so still spend time with your parents. Plus, you are past the point of thinking your parents are fool, and realize that they have pretty good sense about stuff.. so now is the time to pick their brains about things you've always wanted to know. One of the other really cool things about having kids is watching your own parents LOVE your kids.. form relationships with them.. say their name for the first time.. and watch how they both light up when they see each other.

The other cool thing is that now I have my own little family to spend time with.. and I love it. I love our time with the girls, the dogs, and just us.. We can get excited about the "Seek a Boo" game.. or a silly puzzle.. Play Dough is also huge right now. But its fun to just go home, and be with my family. Every day its something new with the girls.. (Yesterday Cross was Bokking like a chicken) and I don't want to miss any of those moments. I also really love my husband and going home to him.. So I enjoy the lame-ness of my little family life.

10) Be Kind to yourself.. Respect Yourself.. 
I also add Forgiving yourself to this one.. yeah, I'm not a stay at home mom.. yeah I don't weigh 100lbs.. yeah I didn't get married till later.. Yeah, my kids eat Cheetos sometimes.. Forgive yourself. Don't Sweat the small stuff.. or.. Don't sweat the Petty stuff, and don't pet the Sweaty Stuff.. lol.. Either way. Its all going to work out. So don't beat yourself up because all the other kids are saying their ABC's and your kid isn't even talking.. When I look at my girls, they are full of joy, so I know I am doing something right.. None of that is going to matter to you in 50 years, so just enjoy your time and be kind and forgiving to yourself..

Here's the full article if you want to read all the comments, etc.. 

We are headed to the farm this weekend. And we get to meet my new nephew, Luke.. Grant & Jenny's new baby. The girls will get to play with Cousin Ava & Joe.. it will be like a giant circus.. but fun.. I'm excited for the girls to have cousins their age that they can run around and have fun with. Its a special time.

Oh, and if you are looking for a delicious Valentines Idea.. Get One Smart Cookies. I know we are supposed to eat 'better'.. but these are worth the calories, and worth the exercise. Dang good cookies..and they are doing a valentine special.. and they are on groupon. Boom. You're welcome.

Essential Oil Magic Wonderment and Pizzazz.

The Essential Oils weird me out.. They weird me out because I realize when i'm talkming about them to peole it sound like I practice weird voodoo on my family.. But time and time again when I use them they work.. so I guess I just need to be comfortable saying "Hi, I'm KC, and I practive weird voodoo oils on my family"..

The girls have had a cold for about a week (its over now) and it was annoying.. Runny Nose, and coughs mainly.. I didn't take them to the Dr because I know there is nothing they can do for colds and babies.. So I started putting the oils on them. Now, there are two main companies for Oils.. Young LIving and Doterra.. I've used both, they are both great.. but right now I'm using YL.. So I start putting thieves on their feet, RC on their Chest, and Melrose behind their ears.. They start getting better...but then I get paranoid that they have ear infections, or RSV, or Flu, or something terrible.. Why? Because when we came home last Wednesday after church Crosslee didn't go to bed until 4AM! Seriously.. MJ and I got up the next day and he said "Man, I think that is the worst night we've ever had.. even since newborn time"... I agreed.. She was just fussy.. not wanting to sleep.. not really crying, but not sleeping.. we tried everything, but since its so weird for her not to sleep I thought "something has to be wrong with her!"

So I decide to take her to the Kids 1st clinic after work.. I hate taking them to the Dr.. MY pediatrician doesn't have a 'sick' room so all the nasty little sick, germ-infested kids are walking around in the same room, touching your perfectly well kid.. Its not ideal.. I don't know why they don't have a sick room, but they don't.. blargh.. So I rolled up at the after hours kids clinic at 4:45..was the first one in there, and dodged all the germy kids! Only to find out.. guess what? She has a cold.. no ear infection.. no rsv.. no flu.. no Croupe.. Just a cold.. So yeah.. we went home.. But.. I was glad that it was nothing more than a cold, because they honestly never really felt bad, and I think that is because I was oiling them and they were feeling better the whole time.. So Oil your babies. Thats the lesson.. lol.. In fact, this article was hilarious.. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TAKE YOUR KID TO THE PEDIATRICIAN. 


Then on Friday I started to feel kinda terrible.. My boss had the flu, so I was worried I had gotten it too.. even though I got a flu shot.. (which those appear to do SOOO much for us).So I made up a "FLU BOMB" and put it on the bottoms of my feet at night, and diffused it.. the next day I was better. Crazy. I know. Its so weird.. but anyway, here's the flu/cold bomb.. Enjoy!

We started our new small group at Church.. Its so great. Love the group, love the people, love our church.. Could not be more excited.. so that is an exceptional part of our lives. 

New Year, Same Ol' Me!

Sometimes when Writing this Blog I feel like I need to put a disclaimer on it.. because it has come to my attention that *some* people can't wait to read it, so they can try to throw me under the bus. All of my facebook friends, &; former radio folks you are not who I am talking about.. But Basically.. No one makes you read this blog, so if you don't like it, or you don't like me, move on.. It's as simple as that.


Ok, now that that is out of the way! Onto 2015!

I'm Pretty excited about 2015. 2014 was Really Great.. In fact, the past Few Years has been full of truly Life Changing Experiences..
2012--Married the Love of my Life
2013--Had 2 perfect, precious girls
2014--Managed to Keep those precious girls and my Love alive for a year!

So the possibilities are endless for 2015. Our Sunday School Teacher (Terry Feix) talked to us about Goals for the New Year.. Not Resolutions..that are made to be broken.. but Goals.. Here's what you are supposed to do.
Set 1-2 Spiritual Goals
Set 1-Self Improvement Goal
Set 1-3 Family Goals
Set 1-2-Job Goals

As MJ and I were doing this with each other we had to really think about what Goals we wanted to set. Terry's Advice was to keep it simple..and write it down.. So here are mine:
Spiritual Goals-- 1) Be a Strong Leader for Our Small Group.
                            2) Have Good Conversations with God on my Way to work
Self Improvement Goal--Continue my Weight Watchers Success
Family Goal--1) Be More Present with the girls..No Electronics.
                       2) Pray Each Night as a Family
Job Goal--Asset Management

I think being 'present' is something that is very lacking in our society today.. We can't even be present when we are driving down the road anymore.. we have to be texting or eating, or applying makeup.. Which all should NOT be happening, but you get my point.. When I say be "present" I mean.. be in the moment. When I come home I don't want to watch TV with the girls. I want to play with them, engage them, and make them giggle.. But so many times I'll find myself getting a text and replying to it.. or checking an email. Today's society tells us 'We deserve it all, and we can do it all".. but why do we need to? My mom and Grandma didn't have an Ipad, and I loved my time spent with them! But nowdays we can be watching TV while texting on our phone and facebooking on our Ipad! Its insane..but its the norm. So while at home with my goats I'm going to just be Present and enjoy every moment of their lives.

I'm excited about what they new year is going to bring for the girls too. This is such a fun time right now. I look at them everyday and think "Don't get big!" But I also look forward to seeing the magical things God is going to do in their lives. Crosslee Amazes me with how smart she is.. She is already doing matching games, puzzles, and coloring..and she says almost everything. Londyn's mind is more analytic.. she watches..and studies everything all the time. She doesn't say much, but she finds ways to get her point across..

Cross loves all her real animals, and her stuffed animals. She names each one of them and takes them to bed each night.. then each morning she wants them out of her bed, and gives them all food and water. She puts the food up to their mouths and makes little sipping noises. Then she will lay them down and say "Shh..seepin".. lol..Its hilarious and also awesome. There's nothing quite like looking at a mini version of yourself.

We Finished up our Last Christmas last weekend.. even though the weather was Boot. GT & Nana came over to the house and brought the girls some goodies.. Cross opened all the presents because Londyn doesn't care much about it. They had a good time playing with their goodies. Londyn finally got on board with the Trampoline that Pops & Grammy got them.. at first she was like "No thank you"... but yesterday she was jumping in it.. so it just takes her a little longer to warm up to stuff. 

Crosslee's mullet can now be transformed into pigtails.. its pretty great. Londyn has been able to have pigtails for a while now. I love it.. Their daddy says "They are so cute I can almost not look at them!".. he's waited for them to have pigtails since they were born..

This weekend Pops And Grammy are coming up to play with the girls for a bit. MJ's Birthday was on Monday so we are are going to go to lunch and then to watch "Taken 3".. yeah yeah I know.. Taken 3.. but hey, I liked Taken 2.. I know its the same premise..but its still good! So we will do that.

Dogs are doing great too.. They had a joyful Christmas. They love being out at the farm and running free.. Even though the Weather throughout the whole month of December was terrible.. they still love running free and being dogs. Cross loves throwing the ball for them.. It makes her laugh when Banks brings it back to her. Pays sometimes tries to steal her Owl..but that is always short-lived. Cross is pretty serious about the owl..

What did we do on New Years? You guess it..Nothing.. lol.. I'm still just as lame as I always have been.. and I was tired.

Hope you guys had a blessed New Years! Very excited about what the New Year Presents! I saw this on Facebook and thought it was very good advice.. MJ & I have decided to follow this list and re-work our inner circle. Unfortunate, but it has to be done. No point in having people around you that only hurt your feelings and bring constant negativity. Here's to hoping those people change their tune in 2015.. Here's the list:

10 Toxic People You Shouldn't Bring with You Into the New Year

1. The people who make your life more stressful.

Stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing — in fact, it’s what you make it out to be. If you believe stress is bad for you, then it will be bad for you. If you use stress as the motivator it is, to motivate you to act, then stress can actually be rather healthy.

However, you should aim to only be stressed by situations and not by people. If you have people in your life who are constantly managing to stress you out, that’s your mind telling you — and trying to motivate you — to remove them from your life.

Life is stressful as it is. You don’t need someone making it more so.

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2. The people who use you.

To be fair, everyone uses everyone — and usually it’s OK. We interact with others because we find that it will benefit us in some way. If we didn’t believe it would, then we wouldn’t find sufficient reason to interact with them.

Sometimes we find people in our lives who use us in ways that end up hurting us. Most people will use us and by doing so, either maintain or improve our wellbeing.

Then you have those toxic individuals who use you and leave you worse off, sucking you dry and feeding off you like a parasite.

These sorts of people have no place in your life; don’t bring them into 2015.

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3. The people who don’t respect you.

Every respectful person deserves to be respected in return; that’s how respect works. If you find that you have a person or people in your life who have difficulty giving you the respect you give them, tell them to buzz off.

Have enough respect for yourself to never allow others to disrespect you and remain a part of your life.

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4. The people who always manage to hurt you.

People can be silly sometimes. The people we keep a part of our lives are the people we care about — or at least, that ought to be the case. Some of these individuals, sadly, end up hurting us and causing us pain.

The problem is that when others cause us pain, we’re reminded of how much those people mean to us. If they could hurt us emotionally, we must care for them and what they think of us a great deal — so we allow them to remain a part of our lives.

Often, we’ll even allow these individuals to take up more room. People hurt other people — it’s just the way the world works. But if you have someone in your life who can’t manage to stop hurting you, do yourself a favor and cut that person off.

Pain is only good if it teaches you a lesson. In this case, the lesson is to stop allowing others to use you as a punching bag.

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5. The people who can’t seem to stop lying to you.

Everyone lies. In fact, within the first few minutes of meeting a new person, that person is likely to lie to you a handful of times. Most lies are harmless, but that all changes when the people who are lying to you are the people you trust.

Fill your life with trustworthy people and you’ll be far better off. You can find lies just about anywhere. Finding the truth, on the other hand, is much more rare.

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6. The people who smile to your face and then insult you behind your back.

These are the scum of the scum, cowards that don’t have the guts to speak their minds. These individuals enjoy pretending to be your friend while telling the rest of the world that you’re a piece of sh*t.

These people will ruin your reputation and, as most of us now know, reputation matters a whole lot in the world we live in. Only idiots would start a new year with these sorts of individuals in their life.

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7. The people who don’t care about you, but love to pretend they do.

We’ve all had people in our lives who act like our friends only when it’s convenient for them.

These toxic individuals are “pseudo friends” — a lot of fun to hang out with, and more than willing to accept help, but when you need their help they’re miraculously nowhere to be found.

These individuals are especially toxic because they give you the illusion of a safety net. You think you can lean on them for support, but when you reach for their shoulder, you fall over and hit the ground.

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8. The people who drag you back into your old lifestyle.

Life is only interesting and exciting if it’s constantly progressing. Only when we’re constantly moving forward, constantly improving ourselves and our surroundings, are we able to find contentment and happiness.

Most people always manage to keep people in their lives who are holding on to the life you once had.

You have worked hard to progress and make changes, but these individuals prefer life the way it used to be, and do their best to bring you back to the cave you just crawled out of.

Be wary of these folks, they’re often difficult to pinpoint and always manage to revert the progress you worked so hard to make.

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9. The people who hold you back.

There’s a fact to life that I’ve grown to accept over the past few years — a fact that isn’t especially pleasant, but nonetheless necessary to accept as truth: Many people in your life, the people you call friends, shouldn’t be a part of your life.

As time passes, we change as individuals. Our hopes and goals change, often leaving the relationships we have in place outdated.

Many of the people in your life likely don’t want to live the life you’re building for yourself. Because they’re egocentric, they’ll do their best to create their version of their ideal life and drag you into it.

Most times, people fail to create the life of their dreams because they surround themselves with people aiming for something entirely different.

If your goals aren’t aligned, your lives aren’t either.

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10. The people just taking up space.

Everything in life is limited. Resources are limited. Time is limited. Space is limited. What you can accomplish within a lifetime is limited. We can’t, and never will be able to, have it all.

This is why you have to be very careful with not only what you choose to do, but with whom you choose to do it with.

You can only maintain a handful of strong relationships at any given time — you just don’t have the time, energy or mental focus to handle more.

If you’re filling your life with half-assed individuals, you’re bound to create a half-assed life. If someone isn’t adding to your life, then, by default, they’re taking away from it.

Leave them in 2014 and build a better inner circle.

Its Christmas time Pretty baby..

Well we had a great Christmas. We aren't even all the way done with it yet.. but so far its been awesome.

MJ and I were both most of the Week of Christmas. I worked on Monday, but that was it. We had a great Holiday Luncheon at Loves and it was a lot of fun. I work for a great company.

On Sunday Mom came up to get the girls for a little 1 on 1 Grandparent time.. She took them to Canute and MJ and I finished up some last minute shopping on Monday and Tuesday. We also went to see "Exodus".. which was NOT great. It wasn't even as good as NOAH, and Noah wasn't that great either.. But In Exodus.. he doesn't even part the red sea.. and the burning bush doesn't talk to him, instead a weird little boy does.. Not cool. The Story of Moses is so amazing with all the CGI and Special effect they have nowdays they could have hit an home run.. but they didn't.. Lame. But.. the popcorn was good, so there's that!

I had flower delivery at Church on Tuesday, so I went and did that, and then we went to the First Crossings Christmas Eve Service (I think they had 8 total).. It was so good. We took Brandon with us and he and I cried through some of it, lol.. I'm just so proud of my church, and I love to share it with people.. The choir did "O Holy Night" and it was just great. Makes me so happy to go to a church with a real, live orchestra playing insuruments, and an amazing choir. Love it.

Wednesday Morning we went to Mom's and got the girls and headed to Sentinel to see my dad and all the cousins. We had a great time. The kids are 2 & Under.. Mine are the youngest at 19 Months.. Joe turned 2 in October, (My sister Lexi's boy) and Ava turned 2 in September (My Brother Grant's girl).. so its a madhouse of toddlers crying, laughing, running, falling, flailing, screaming and chasing each other! Its pretty hilarious to watch. They are all to the age now where they know each other and play with each other. There are going to be some pretty interesting brawls that happen in the next few years to say the least!


 They had a great time opening their presents.. Although Londyn didn't care much about it.. Joe's "present" face was the best.. every time he would open something it was like it was the greatest gift that had ever been given! I just wanted to keep giving him stuff! Ava loved her Fur Real Kitten that we got her.. but so did Crosslee and she kept stealing it every time Ava sat her down.. lol..She would take it and run off.. It was funny. The whole situation with Toddlers 2 & under is funny because they have no concept of empathy, sharing, hurting one another or civilization in general! They are self-absorbed little emotional people walking around being crazy! But its so great..

You will go from one minute of happiness, to someone crying, to someone yelling, to someone giggling.. its pretty great. I was never close to any of my cousins, so I'm pretty excited for my girls to grow up loving their cousins and playing together.

Cross has started doing a "CHEESE" face when you point your camera at her. Its one of my favorite things.. because it makes me laugh..  Londyn has also started doing a Cheese Face, except hers looks more like an Angry Goat face..

Her Cheese face was when Gigi gave them Push Pops before Supper to celebrate the fact that they were 19 months old.. and it was Christmas time.. so as you can see, she was very excited about this.. Who wouldn't be excited about push pops for supper right??

They had a great Time at Christmas Day at Gigi & Papa's.. Santa came.. although LL wasn't that concerned with this.. Cross got up pretty early and was excited about her Basketball goal. She grabbed the ball, walked over and started shooting it into the goal.. She made like 3 in a row and I look over at mom and we are like "How does she know how to do that?".. but she did!

Mom also got them a King & Queen Puppet.. Cross was freaked out by them at first.. she would look at them and say "NOO".. but once they started singing songs to her she warmed up a little.. by the last day we were there she was feeding the Queen part of her sausage.. thats how you know Cross loves you.. if she shares her sausage.. lol

Londyn got up a little bit later on Christmas day.. she was most excited about a geometric Stacker we got them. She liked to take all of them off and then put them back on. They both loved that gift. They also both loved the Piano.. they strum on it daily.

They also got lots of coloring books, and art Easel, and these awesome horses.. Sadly, they are not big enough to ride the horses yet, but Cross still loved them.. We will wrap them back up and save them for their birthday. You have to weigh enough to press down on them to make them go.. they can reach the pedals..but can't make them go just yet, so we ended up pushing Cross around on hers, or letting her walk him.. she still loved it. When they are big enough they will LOVE those horses! You steer/drive their heads so it will be so much fun!

We have one more Christmas left, with MJ's dad.. His Grandma got sick on Christmas and went into the hospital, so we haven't got to see them yet, but we probably will this weekend. I know we will all be excited to do that too!


The girls are so much fun right now. They don't play and love on each other a lot..but they are starting to. I captured a picture of them in the chair playing and their faces look so sweet. They love playing Hide & Seek now..

Cross is saying a million words.. the funniest ones are "Heyyyyy" and "byyyeeee".. she sounds Southern. She knows how to ask for things and we understand what she wants 90% of the time. Londyn says fewer words, but she is very sweet and patient, and we can usually figure out what she wants too. I think she will talk more as she gets older. She loves to play with Rocks and Hangers. We got her a Sandbox for Christmas. They also got a slide and Cross loves it. Cross loves all her new babies. She has a Fur Real Panda, Small Toady, her Fur Real Horse, and we got both of them glow worms. They both like them in their beds at night. Cross sleeps with like 5 things now.. but don't worry, JA (the owl) is still the main guy.. He is in almost every picture because he is not far from her heart..

The girls had their 18 month appointments.. They are in the 90% percentile in most things. They weight 26 & 27 lbs and are 34" tall. They are super healthy.. Still really great eaters.. in fact Cross ate Mexican Enchilada dip at Christmas.. we were like "Cross thats spicy".. but she just kept dipping her chips in there and eating it.. lol. They do a great job eating. Not picky at all, which I'm so grateful for.

My next post will probably be about having twins.. because I know several people that are pregnant with twins right now..and they honestly don't know whats about to happen.. lol..But I'll save that one for later. Hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas! I know we are super excited about the New Year and all the New Blessings it will bring! XXOO

The Sounds of Christmas

The Fabulous Bows on Crosslee's head are from Magpies Bowtique. She makes the CUTEST things!! 

Last night I took Crosslee to the Crossings Christmas Special.. it was so great. I can't even tell you how great it was.. but it was GREAT. Only Cross & I went because this was the first year for it I think and we didn't know what to expect. So Londyn & MJ stayed home.. It lasted about an hour and 15 min and Cross was pretty good for an 18 month old.. She loved the singing. Especially the awesome Opera lady singing in the choir right beside us at the start.. She clapped for her. She loved the movie part too.. But she got a little bored and played with her cows for some of it..

The program was old, funny movie clips, and great Christmas songs.. Some with us singing, some with the tremendous choir and orchestra, and some with solos.. it was SO good. One of the coolest things is pulling into the Parking lot at 6:30 on a Sunday and seeing that 2000 other people just cannot WAIT to get into the doors of the church because they know something magical is about to happen.. and it did. I love my church so much!

Speaking of Church.. MJ and I have gotten brave and started taking the girls to the nursery for both Church and Sunday School.. They usually just go to one or the other.. but we know its good socialization for them to be there, and the staff loves them.. They have done great, and no texts to come get them.. so Success!

Cross got her first goose-egg over the weekend. She rolled off the couch and hit her forehead. She didn't really cry that much, but it looked AWFUL. Just awful! It was better the next day.. But the worse part was that it happened right before we were planning on leaving to go to MJ's work party.. But Thankfully Leslie (nanny) was watching the girls that night, and Cross wasn't sad when we left.

We were supposed to go to our Sunday School party on Friday night and MJ's dad was going to watch the goats.. but Cross had a bad diaper rash and LL was teething, so we stayed home. Cross only wanted me to hang out with her, and LL wanted her daddy.. We were sad to miss that, but it was for the best.

We are super excited for Christmas this year. We have almost completed our shopping and are trying to figure out a schedule of when we get to see everyone. With 4 sets of grandparents it always gets interesting.But the nice thing is that we have so many people who want to see the girls, be with them, and hang out with them..Of course they are pretty hilarious and entertaining, so I can't imagine anyone NOT wanting to hang out with them.. but I suppose there will always be some of those people too.

The weather has been ridiculous lately.. Yesterday we have hail and a tornado warning. The fog has been so thick in the mornings, and then its 60 in the day.. No clue. One of my friends had a friend post to his wall "Do you guys live in Hell?" Referring to the ridiculousness of the Oklahoma weather.

In other news MJ & I's jobs are going really well. We had great performance reviews and that was really nice. We both work for really great companies and are certainly blessed by that.

The girls are pretty entertaining now. Crosslee has these 2 cows that she plays with and the other day when we were out eating she laid one on its side and said "he's seepin".. She had never said that before.. Then yesterday when we were at the Christmas program I asked her to "shhh..and be quieter" and put my hand up to my mouth.. and sure enough she did the same thing. It was hilarious. She says something new everyday. JA (her owl) is still her favorite thing, but she also loves "TEE" which is the giant green toad that Jordan's dad got her.. Yesterday she thought Tee wanted to go outside and pulled him through the dog door. I had to inform her he did not want to go outside. Poor JA looks like a sad, mangled washcloth.. We got her 2 more to replace him.. but she won't love them as much I'm sure. My hope is that she can carry one of them around and maybe get him kinda harried looking and then she will like them both.. We'll see what happens. Its been a lot of fun shopping for them this year. I know its going to be super fun to watch them open presents and be excited.

So they still don't care that much about each other.. I don't know when that will happen. They know who each other is.. but thats where it ends. As far as playing, or having some sort of magical twin talk.. no. They don't have that. Its funny because when they were little we would always hear "Are they identical?" and now we hear "Are they related".. they don't look anything alike.. but thats ok. We love it. And we love that we both have mini-me's.. It truly could not have turned out any more perfect..

Yesterday at Sunday School we sat with a group of folks and one couple had a newborn and one couple was 8 months pregnant.. They asked Jordan & I to write a book, lol. I think once people have ONE newborn they become pretty impressed with the fact that we were able to live through having TWO. Even though we had a ton of help with My parents and Jordan's dad, it was still SO MUCH WORK. Like nothing I say can every prepare people for what it takes to live through having two infants, lol..

When I look back on the past 10 years of my life its been incredible to see how many "God" moments I have had.. Like how many times I had planned something, and how many times he un-did my plan and went with his own.. and how much greater things turned out. We could have never expected all the trials we would have to go through.. but the payoff has been so great. We have amazing lives, amazing family and friends, amazing dogs, and two healthy, beautiful babies who are truly full of joy, and a joy to be around. Its a Wonderful time of the year!