We are slack...

So, apparently I haven't updated since August...that was 8 months ago.  Wow, so much has happened in those months.  Let's see if I can catch you up.

Thanksgiving--we spent Thanksgiving in French Lick, IN with Grammy, GrampS, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Whitney, Mac, Bennett, and Bisa.  We had such a fun time and it was nice to be out in the chilly fresh air.  We also got to go to a Christmas House and sit on Santa's lap.

Christmas--we spent in Lancaster, SC with Mimi and Poppy.  However, we aught the Norovirus and infected everyone in the family.  We now refer to this as the Christmas Plague.  We had fun with family, but people mostly tried to stay away and get well.  Paisley got ear tubes and her adenoids removed at the end of December.

January--The twins had their 1st birthday party!!  We had many family and friends come to celebrate with us.  We had a Farm animal theme for their party.  Boy, it sure is hard to find a theme that fits both a boy and a girl.   I guess we will have to start gearing up for individual parties soon!  Uncle Brad, Aunt Kristin, and Peter visited us a couple of times over the next few months.  We sure do love having Peter around to play with us.  He is one smart cookie!

January-March--We took a hiatus from the rest of the world...or as much as we possibly could.  We kept getting sick with numerous colds and viruses and decided to stay home away from all the germs.  That meant, we didn;t really ahng out iwth any friends or attend playdates or even go to church.  We really missed our friends.  Now that the weather has warmed up, we are back out and ready to mingle!

April--Mommy and Daddy went to Costa Rica for 6 days.  The twins stayed with Grammy and GrampS.  Unfortunately, the twins caught some kind of stomach bug and were sick for most of the time.  Ugh!  Germ, germs, germs!  We are all glad to be reunited.  We make regular trips to the park.  We like to play on the swings and to climb up the slides.  Paisley especially likes to eat the bark that covers the ground.  We have been doing some art projects with paint and water.  We like to play outside in a water bin.  We are starting to say a few more words.  We can now say: Mama, Dada, no-no, nana, and duck.  Our attention spans are starting to stretch, so we can now begin reading books and watching a few short videos.  The twins are so fun at this stage as their personalities are coming out in full force.  Rhett is such a sweet, loving child with a good soul.  He is very agreeable and does basically anything you want him to do, when you want him to do it.  Paisley is another story altogether.  She is her own person and thinks that she rules the roost around here.  We have news for her...she does not!  She is in a very clingy, whiny stage right now and loves to be held.  Of course, we enjoy the extra snuggles, but hope she breaks this cycle soon.  Both of the twins are walking and enjoy playing together.  We have only one bottle a day (trying to break that soon) and eat normal people food.  No more baby food for us!  Our favorite foods are: bananas, spaghetti, meatballs,and chicken nuggets.  We also just started swimming lessons.  Rhett loves the water and Paisley could definitely do without it.  Our lives are busy, but fulfilling.

Crazy, silly, fun days

Our days are full of fun.  We laugh, eat, play, and roll.  That's right people...we are officially on the move!  Well, Rhett more so than Paisley.  Rhett rolls all over the house and we have to watch him all the time.  Paisley rolls about twice a day and figures she has completed her quota.  The twins are such a joy to be around these days as they are full of laughs and giggles.  Their personalities are really making an appearance.  We are now eating some cereal, fruit, and veggies and we LOVE to eat.Here are a few pictures to document what we've been up to these past couple of months.

 Rhett likes anything that comes towards his mouth.

 Paisley is still getting used to the idea, but she tolerates it well enough.

We now wear helmets for our flat spots.

 Rhett always seems to find the craziest spots to play in.

 My happy girl

Rhett loves to "read" books.

Happy Birthday Peter!

Today is our cousin Peter's 1st birthday!  I can't believe it has been a year already.  It seems like just yesterday you came into our lives and changed them for the better!  You really are "perfectly" Peter in every way.  Keep growing big and strong!  We hope you have a fabulous birthday and we can't wait to meet you (says Rhett and Paisley).

Mother's Day

Sunday will be my very first Mother's Day!  I cannot describe how very happy that makes me.  I always dreamed that one day I would be a mom and get to celebrate this day with my kids.  That day is now here and I can't wait to wake up to their smiling, beautiful faces.  However, I must admit that every day seems like Mother's Day.  I don't really need to celebrate being a mom once a year--I get to celebrate being a mom 365 days a year!  I have also come to appreciate my own mom much more--she is the best!

Being a mom is emotional territory!  I don't think I have ever laughed or cried as much as I have these past 4 months.  I have known more joy than I ever thought possible.  The same can be said of exhaustion--I didn't know it was possible to feel this tired all the time.  Thankfully, the fog is lifting and we can think like normal people now. 

Worry. Of course, there is always something to worry about as well.  I worry about their food, their poop, their head shape, their development, their interaction with others, etc.  I worry whether I am giving each of them the right amount of attention, love, affection, education, opportunities to demonstrate their personalities, etc.  Drew says this amount of worrying is part of the cause of my exhaustion--he may be right!  In essence, being a mom is hard work, but it is extremely rewarding!

I didn't know what love was until these two came along.  Of course, I loved Drew, but I didn't know how it was possible to instantly fall in love so quickly.  The crazy part is, I fell in love with two people--Paisley AND Rhett.  I didn't know my heart could stretch that big, but it did.  God somehow made room in my heart to love both of them at once!  I am so thankful for that and that my love for them continues to grow each day.

It is my Mother's Day prayer that Rhett and Paisley grow up never doubting my love for them, become good friends with each other, and never know a time when they do not feel their heavenly Father's love. 

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

We have two cuties on our hands!  Sometimes Drew and I can't stop looking at them.  They are each so different, yet they make many of the same expressions.  We are now "talking" as Paisley has lots to say.  Typical girl...we can't seem to get her to be quiet, nor do we want her to stop!  She coos and grunts all day long.  Rhett, on the other hand, just grunts and squeals when he wants to say something.  They are both smiling and laughing and bring much joy into our home.

Our days are filled with the usual eating, sleeping, and pooping, but we now have time on our mat (musical play gym) and tummy time.  We also read lots of books and we like to look at all the fun colors on the page.  They are now interacting a little more with each other and play together often.

We sleep through the night!! We hope this trend will continue as they have always been good sleepers, but now we get about 9 hours at night!  Drew and I are starting to look less like zombies and more like humans again.

We are much more mobile and can travel around town to run errands, not that I run all that many errands as it is a lot of work.

I am almost back to my pre-pregnancy weight (about 8 more lbs. to go).  Unfortunately, it is all in my belly, so people still continue to ask "When are you due?"

We have lots planned for the summer months: our first airplane trip to Michigan for our cousin Peter's and cousin Hambisa's first birthdays, camping trip, trip to Charleston, SC, trip to the Villages, FL and to Mimi and Poppy's house in Lancaster, SC.  We are also going to have them baptised sometime during the summer.

Busy, busy, busy is the best way to describe our lives right now and we wouldn't want it any other way.

In deep thought.

sleeping together

Silly boy

Talking and smiling

Even when they lose, he's still a fan!

The first few months

Whew--time sure flies when you are having fun or busy changing diapers!  For those of you that need to see the math, we have gone through roughly 1280 diapers.  We have settled into our routine and boy do we need a routine!  Keeping up with two babies requires a lot of work, but staying on the same schedule is a must! 

Rhett and Paisley are very good babies and they rarely cry.  We have a lot of fun during the day: reading, singing, and having tummy time.  I don't think they have discovered each other yet, but that will come in time.  Drew and I are getting about 7+ hours of sleep each night (not all at one stretch, but we're getting there), so we definitely cannot complain.

We had our first road trip to SC to visit my family in early March and it was great.  We were bombarded by visitors everywhere we went and behaved wonderfully the entire time.

Rhett and Paisley are now 2 months old and growing like weeds!  They were born at roughly 4 lbs and now weigh around 8 lbs each.

Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks that we wanted to share:

 Rhett sitting with Gramps

 Lazy weekend mornings in bed

 Silly daddy always has to get in the picture

 We're 2 months old!

Our first friend (and Paisley's boyfriend), Aaron John Wilkins

They Have Arrived!!

 Rhett Andrew and Paisley Grace

As new parents, we are exhausted and elated to have these two bundles here with us!  Most of all, I am very glad to not be pregnant anymore!    We will post more in the coming weeks and days, but thought you might want to see a few shots of our newborns.  They were born on January 22nd at 5:16 and 5:17pm.  Rhett came first weighing 4 lbs. 10oz. and 17 3/4" long followed by Paisley who weighed 4 lbs. 14oz. and 17 1/4" long.  Paisley spent 9 days in the NICU before getting to come home with us.  Now we are all reunited and enjoying being a family.