It is Basically May

May is upon us. We head to Busch Gardens tomorrow which we did two years ago but it seems like waaaaaaaay longer ago than that. 

Pascha cheese anyone? 

Again seems like a million years ago but Pascha wasn't too long ago. 

Me and Grammy and the nine braved the ZOO on Spring Break. It was cheaper to buy a family membership than buy tickets. So now I suppose we will have to go back. 

I put the twins in 3-6 month bathing suits. That's the end of those. I figured they would be good for heat and sun. Here comes the summer 

Survival of the bravest! H got motion sickness about 20 minutes before our arrival - 1 hr and 40 minutes into the trip. That was awwwwwwwwesome. Highlight was getting cool treats once we got thru. A is convinced he's going back to ASIA which opens in 2026. 

#twinning at the soccer field 

E took a spin in the parking lot. I know I'm not the cool mom often but I think I may have score a cool mom point or two. 

Later that day... I told her I would give her $20 if she made it around the house in H's car. I am NOT $20 poorer - just for the record. 

Ge loving the strawberries

Gi loving the strawberries

Park

Spin

Fun

One twin loves to swing. One twin might get sea sick 

Soccer season is upon us. J is doing waaaay better than last season. 

There was a middle school dance last week and this was all I got

  

These girls.

I love them are so exhausting but they are so so so worth it.   

 

366 Days of Twin Life

Thank you to the leap year for giving us that extra day!

Two babies. Two cakes. 

Well we can officially say we’ve survived the first year of parenting twins. Though I would argue the clock started ticking the moment we found out about them. Basically twin mom-ing is everything you can imagine and more. It is: 

Amazing - holding them both at the same time and watching them interact with each other. They like fighting over my necklace and taking the other one’s thumb out of their mouth

Crazy - to think they were both inside of me at the same time. Post - twin body might indicate otherwise 

Cute - I will say dressing them in all the matching things is fantastic 

Different - if people didn’t think our family was different before, they know it now. Also the Gs are so different. Different crawling different ways of doing things - similar but not the same.

Exhausting - there’s two of them plus the seven older ones. Need I say more?

Expensive - formula and diapers and daycare ain’t no joke.

Fun - seeing them together make all the chaos worth it and the bond they share is the best 

Hectic - double the diapers, feedings, lungs, needs, 

Loving - they love each other and their big siblings ADORE them so much 

I love a photo recreation. I have a pic of Lee holding the Gs in this spot from last year - 3/31 in the afternoon. Ge in the pink pink. Gi in the pale pink. Yes their shirts say I'm the Favorite. And if you don't LOVE the people you work with and laugh until you cry - y'all are missing out - big time. 

I wouldn't trade the twin mom title for anything. I would be a twin mom to a zillion more sets of twins just to see the interaction and the relationship and the love and the connections between two people - the sacrifice of time, body, energy, money, sanity - cannot be described. 

It has been said that love multiples with the more kids you have - and I do believe this - but the love and the bond between twins and that which I share in with them as their mom is so different than ANY off my other kids. 

Here's to the Gs and all the twin-sanity and twin-love they bring to our lives. 

December 2023

December seems like a lifetime ago...

The big 3 had their Christmas choir concert. I go to the rehearsals in the days leading up because two years in a row there were kids younger siblings so this is way easier and less stressful. It was amazing as usual and I am convinced the children's choir is one of the best kept secrets around town. 

The little three! 

Since we have to divide the kids up somehow in conversation or activities so thirds seems good to me. These girls are going to be into all the things before too long. 

The Gs! They are the best. They weren't sleeping through the night still in this month which is not a big deal when you get up once or twice with one baby but when you get up once or twice with two babies it is a little more of a struggle. 

The big three went camping with their AHG troop. E and R needed camping nights for their level awards in the spring and E needed a two night trip so this one fit the bill. We when to a state park about 40 minutes from the house so we left after school Friday and I could shoot home Saturday during the day to feed the (still nursing - yay!) babies and do the shopping run while Lee held the fort down. The girls hiked and played around for the day and made dinner and started the camp fire. Rain was in the forecast for Sunday morning so soon as we heard the first drop on the tent we were up and out of there - even in time to shower and get to 9 am Mass. Friday night was definitely colder than Saturday and I don't think my feet ever really got warm until Sunday afternoon. 

This was H in every other Christmas card picture attempt. The big three and even down to A and C know the drill for pictures. We are doing this until we get a good one so it can take 2 minutes or 10. 

2022 we used the family pics we had taken that fall as our card pictures. It was insanely easy mainly because I didn't have to take them and they were done in September so I could leisurely order cards. Not so this year and if you don't think I tried to squeeze in a photo session you are incorrect but between soccer games and swim meets nothing worked (plus coordinating outfits for 25 million people is no small task)

When the big 5 are at AHG and Trail Life I try and let J and H do things that we would have done with the older kids - like take baths. We are not much of a tub family because they take FOREVER and showering littles in much more efficient but way less fun for them. 

The Gs are enjoying their food selections... Ge is way better at picking up Cheerios but Gi has taken up crawling and scooting all over the place. So interesting the differences between them. 

We went to a swim meet and it felt like we were in outer space inside of the bubble that is put up over the pool so it can be used in the winter. 

E took on the pretzel/M&M treats. I can't think of who she got the organize by color idea from : ) 

M, A and C were in the school Christmas play. M was a narrator, A was a wise guy man and C was a pig. Which Lee and I still get a kick out of because if there was one animal not in the stable/cave it was NOT a pig. 

J and H had their Christmas program recorded so that was a nice gift - though I do miss the in person programs. J did have a Christmas party that I went to. 

The Gs enjoying the afternoon sun with Skittles. 

Then somehow it was time for Christmas and I replaced pregnant Mary with Mary and baby Jesus in our manger scene. I think I did that while the big four were at church Christmas Eve night - I did make it to church Christmas Even morning but Lady C was sick - fever  and really tired 12/23 and 12/24 so I missed Christmas Even vesperal Liturgy for the third time in four year - which is such a bummer. Between COVID and sick kids and having a deacon for a husband I'm the one who stays home. If we can see the sickness on the horizon I can usually squeeze in getting to church somehow but I tuned into Christmas Eve Mass - which is never the same. 

We faked it to make our Christmas pic and our neighbor snapped a few before the church goers left for vesperal Liturgy. 

The stockings were hung and Mama got even more motivated to get As stocking done because I am waaaaaaay behind on them. 

I'm warming up to the faux tree. It is nice to not have to deal with needles all over the place and fluffing the faux tree is a real thing. 

Grammy and Grandpa Joe with their grandkids on Christmas!

We had an action packed first and second day of Christmas with lots of food and family and gifts. My favorite part is sitting around the table at breakfast and singing Christmas carols in between bites of egg bake and coffee cake. 

This is what the twins thought when I told them they were starting daycare in January : ) 

9 months with the twins! Nine months always causes me to pause and reflect more than every month milestone because of the 9 months in / 9 months out thing I guess. We had no idea it was twins until about 4 months but still so much has changed in our life in the last 18 months - and while it has been chaos at times there is definitely peace underneath it all knowing we are doing God's work, raising these souls that He has entrusted us with

J and H wanted in on the 9 month photo action

And that's how that last month of 2023 went down. 

 

September 2023

Just catching up a bit

We kicked off the month of September with an open water swim that got delayed because of weather and then canceled due to thunder (while some of the swimmers were still swimming) so that was reeeaaalllly fun)

H and J befriended some kids at the park who shared their juice jugs with them and they couldn't have been happier. Its strange reliving some of the stuff I used to do with the bigs or the middles with the littles. 

I've been plotting a rework of our photo wall. I have since spaced out the pics a bit to give them a little elbow room but it remains a work in progress and there are never enough black and gold frames to go around

H is super into dipping her food - even if it is sour cream. 

The Gs are still going strong at work and have even starting stretching a longer nap in the mornings which I very much appreciate. Yes their shirts say I'm the Favorite. I've been accused of only holding my favorite : ) 

Sometimes, some kids can express parental emotions better than the parents themselves 

H had all my feelings locked in her facial expressions the afternoon the van was towed - I think she was just scared of the tow truck but she and I were tracking

One Thursday afternoon I whip into the driveway after hearing a weird noise as we drove down our street. I sat in the front seat texting but then knew we were toast when E announced - ummmm Mama I think you need to see this. 

I hop out to find fluid pouring out of the front underside of the van. I hustle everyone out since I didn’t know what it was. Well come to find out it was coolant and a week and a thousand dollars later the van was back. Transporting 11 people around in two cars for a week gave us even greater appreciation of le Van. Also, we have the exact same van on order because this one is fast approaching the 150K mile mark. More on how we came to that decision later. 

Six month old twins. I love them and I am so grateful they are ours

J helped me make his bday cake and I let him lick the beaters and he proceeded to dip them back into the batter... but I couldn't be mad at him. Also on his bday week we realized that if you are painting with OIL based paint you CANNOT use your oven (unless you want your food to taste like gasoline or propane). Fun Fact

He is FOUR! He loves everything outside. He is not a huge fan of playing soccer but he will stand on the field. He is a very early riser. He is probably the most perceptive kid - he notices where we are when we are driving and if we take a different way. Trains, trucks and machines make his day

For he bday he really wanted a lawn mower - like a real one. We talked him down to a wheel barrow which he loves to fill up with leaves and dirt and yard trash and dump it. Also he has conned A into giving him and C wheel barrow rides.