Has it been this long??

It is hard to believe 4 months has gone by since I last updated. Sigh. I am trying to find balance in my life while taking care of two little girls, maintaining a house and all that it entails (mostly cleaning it and picking up toys galore,LAUNDRY and cooking) and having a little bit of life outside as well as time for William. I am still learning to balance it all and find time to get on the computer...so we shall see, I hope to update more.

So what have we been up to? Let me backtrack...the week before Thanksgiving we headed to Disney World for 5 days. My cousin Sara and her daughter Caroline joined us on the trip. We also met our good friends the Oswalds down there. This was the perfect time to go to Disney World. It was actually still very warm and it was not crowded! I think the longest we waited in line was about 10 minutes and that was maybe twice. Many people were wondering why we would make a trip like this since the girls were so young. The girls were young and under normal circumstances we would not have taken them yet but Disney World has a great program they are offering to military people. William got in for free, the girls were free and for me, it was $125 for a 5 day park hopper pass. In addition this offer could be extended to 4 other people, friends or family. We couldn't pass up this chance and despite the fact the girls won't remember it, we will and we had a great time.

We ended November spending Thanksgiving in Birmingham with William's family. Then it was on to Christmas. We traveled to Richmond, VA to be with my mom. It was relaxing,low key and lots of fun. The girls still didn't get the christmas morning concept and call us bah humbug but we went with it, knowing this was the last time we could not make a big deal. We flew to Richmond so there was only so much we could pack in a suitcase. Sadly Lindley Kate got her first ear infection and was not a happy camper. Between all our travels in November and December they did not sleep well at all. William and I were very relieved to get home, be done with traveling and have the girls in a normal routine!

January turned out to be a sad month for us, my beloved Grandma (mom's mom) passed away on January 24th. She was 81. A little less than 20 years ago, she suffered an aneurysm but survived. They opted not to operate back then due to its location. It was very close to the brain stem. Fast forward to 2010, diabetes, high blood pressure, and renal failure caused her aneurysm to grow and it was compressing on her optic nerve. She was in severe pain and started losing control of her eye movement (palsy). The pain became so severe while visiting my uncle John, her son, they decided to take her to ER. The neurosurgeon decided they would try a coiling procedure on her to fill the aneurysm and prevent a catastrophic event. Sadly during the procedure, part of the blood clot broke off as he was trying to fill the aneurysm. In an attempt to chase after it, a vein was nicked causing her to have a stroke. In ICU she suffered a second major stroke. Nothing more could be done. They took her off life support and she passed away a little over 24 hours later. I flew out to San Antonio to be with my family. I left the girls for the first time with William and his mom. I assure you this was much harder for me than it was for them. I was so thankful to be there with my mom. I miss my Grandma terribly and hate that she never met my girls. However, I feel blessed to have made it to the age of 31 before I lost a grandparent.

I joined the Mom's Club and our calendars have been full with lots of activities. It has been a lot of fun getting to know new moms and doing fun things in our town I didn't know about. I also joined a bible study with a fellow mom. We are doing Beth Moore's study on Esther. It has been awesome. Our group is quite the variety and range in ages from 30's and young moms to 80's and great grandmothers. I have learned a lot and it has been a neat experience. I also recently joined gymboree for the girls and they are in the play and learn class. I should have done this a long time ago but it is so expensive and I was slightly intimidated to do it alone.

The girls are getting so big! I can't believe they are going to be two next month! They have changed so much in the past few months. They are both very talkative but here recently their words have started to become a lot more clear. I still think they are a little behind with verbal communication but I have somewhat expected it since they are twins and multiples are known for being a little delayed. We'll see what the pediatrician has to say about it at their 2 year checkup.

So lets start with Ellie. Ellie is still very spunky and very active. She is loud, funny, and very affectionate. She is very eager to please and loves to be praised. She loves being outside. She and Lindley Kate get along really well. She is pretty dominant with Lindley Kate and definitely loves being the center of attention but in playgroups with others she has become painfully shy. She cries and clings to me for a while and then eventually plays. We have also learned she is absolutely petrified of Asian men. I don't know why but it is embarrassing. She is a doll and makes me laugh continually throughout the day. Ellie has really long hair! She has grown but still on the petite size. Last appt about 2 weeks ago she was 24lbs.

Lindley Kate...sweet sweet girl. She is easy going, soft spoken, and a mama's girl. She is motherly and quick to step back and let Ellie have the spotlight. She has the sweetest voice and is super affectionate. I can always count on Lindley Kate to sit in my lap and love whenever I want. She is very tolerant of her sister constantly taking things from her. She loves to read books and play in her kitchen. She has proven to be a tester and will push her limits. She can definitely throw a good temper tantrum. Lindley Kate is about 34 inches tall and was 25.5 lbs our last appt.

It has been so fun for me to have little girls. Every night after bath, we brush teeth and then I put them up on top of my bathroom counter and blow dry their hair. We call it the "beauty parlor" and they love it. Each one begging to be put up on the counter when I am finished with one of them. William flies a lot at night so it is just us most of the time with the night time routine. As of this week, I have taken the pacifier away. This was very unplanned but an impromptu visit to the dentist sparked us to move forward. On Tuesday Ellie and Lindley Kate were playing in their cribs instead of napping. I suddenly heard a loud bang and "that" scream...the one you know there is something wrong. I walked in and noticed Ellie was bleeding from her mouth. She had fallen or run into her crib and knocked her two front teeth very hard. There is a chunk of wood missing! Both teeth were loose but one was much worse than the other. I waited until the next morning to take her to the dentist and I wish I had taken her right after it happened. Her right front tooth has really moved and pushed forward. It was too late to move it back in to place without damaging the nerve and killing the tooth. The tooth may still die but time will tell. The dentist really suggested I take away the pacifier to prevent her teeth from moving forward any more. So if Ellie can't have it than neither can Lindley Kate. So far it has been fine at night. We cut the tips off of them. Ellie looks at it, looks at me and then tosses it. Lindley Kate is slightly more addicted and cries "paci, paci." She can't figure out why she can't get a good suction on it. Poor thing. I am glad we are getting rid of them though.

Just a quick recap of what we have been up to in 4 months. Here are some pics below of our trip to DW and some recent pics of the girls. Hugs to all of you who still peep in from time to time to see if I have updated!

In DW...Ellie sacked out, LK reading the map :)

Ellie sitting in Sara's lap on the train...her first ponytail!

Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground at Hollywood studios...their favorite!

Sleepy girls

The girls and Liam

Recent pic in our backyard

Gymboree!

Ellie's long hair

LK loves her daddy's patches