BACK TO BLOGGIN

Hi Strangers! I know I have been completely MIA for a long time. Too long. I have very much missed blogging. Most everyone that I knew read regularly has inquired over the last several months about my lack of blogging and a few people that I didn't know read even asked. Here is the quick and dirty. We got busy. Yeah, real busy. We had some big vacations, some big illnesses, a new pregnancy (more on that later), some struggles with my business, a big office move, and more. All of that was on top of the general business of being a family with two working parents and two very small boys. I know that sounds like a stinky excuse. Seriously, life got pretty overwhelming there for a while. To be honest, it still is on some days. However, I need to blog. I love writing about what is going on in our family. I would blog if not a single person in the world ever read it. We went on our annual family vacation to Topsail a couple of weeks ago. I always treat that as my second new year. That basically means that I use the time away to evaluate where our family is, what has been going on with us in the last year, and what areas of our life and family could use some attention. You know, a little self reflection and some time talking with God. Some time spent listening to what God would like to be doing in my life. The ultimate result is that I come home feeling motivated to keep moving forward and with some new goals. I determined then that I must make it a priority to get back to blogging. That is not that only priority rearranging I did, but that is all for another post. This post is to simply say, I'm BAAAACK. Why today? Well, we are all home sick. Yep, all four of us even Justin. That is just the way things have been lately. It is always something. I do have some archived posts that I began over the last several months that I will go back, edit, and then post. They will post with the original date they should have posted, but for the two people who might still read this blog I will let you all know when those archived posts go up just in case you care.

FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES

My oldest son says some of the cutest things. He is seriously hysterical. The best part is that he has no idea he is so funny. He says things in complete seriousness that are off the charts funny. For a long time I have been wanting to do a weekly post to outline all of the funny things that happen in our house (most of which are things that Grayson says) Since I can't seem to get around to doing a regular post for now I will just post of some the top rated funnies so that I don't forget them before he is old enough for me to embarrass him.

As we are leaving dinner one night I need to pull out of the parking lot rather quickly (but safely) to get in front of the traffic that is approaching. I tell the boys in the back, "Hold on to what ya got! We are going!" To this Grayson replies rather frantically "Mommy, I got nothing in my hands right now!"

I was sick a few weeks ago (big surprise) and I had no voice. My mom was keeping the boys and told Grayson I had a frog in my throat. When I get home and go to give Grayson a hug he says very seriously, "Mommy is that frog gonna jump out and on my froat (throat)?"

We are very particular about making sure Grayson doesn't touch things when we are in a public restroom. A while ago Justin took Grayson to the potty while we were out shopping t0 a pretty crowded restroom. Justin reminds Grayson not to touch anything. Rather loudly Grayson asks, "Daddy, can I touch myself?" We tell him to put his hands on his stomach or knees while in a public restroom to avoid having him grab the dirty toilet. Justin, knowing that the men in the other stalls could hear tried to ignore the question (big mistake). Naturally Grayson shouts louder, "Daddy! Can I touch myself? So Justin quietly replies, "Yes Grayson, you can." Grayson then asks very loudly, "Can I touch myself all over my body?" HA!

Grayson has a female friend at school. We will call her "E". Grayson likes to pretend to talk on the phone to his friends. On one occasion he was pretending to talk to "E". I hear him say, "Hey E! What are you doin right now? Uh-huh. I like your cute butt." What?!?!? Where did he even hear that?!?!?

And last but not least, my personal favorite that is not funny but just shows how wonderful the heart of my oldest son is. . .

Grayson crawled into my lap today, looks up at me and says, "Mommy, you are my best friend."

Heaven! Absolute heaven!!!

OH BOYS!

We are very happy to announce that we will be welcoming another boy to our family in January. Yep, that's right we are having another baby and yes we know it is going to be a boy because I am already over 16 weeks. We do typically share the news of a new pregnancy pretty early on, but this one was a little different. We told our family and close friends around the 8 week mark, but decided to keep this pregnancy private from Facebook and the blog world for a little bit longer.

We kept our new baby hush for a bit longer for a few reasons. One, this baby was a very wonderful surprise and we just needed some time for the news to sink in. Two, I have a lot going on at work and needed to get some things headed in a better direction before I announced a new pregnancy. Third, and probably the biggest reason, was that this pregnancy has been so very different from the others with some nervous moments at the very beginning. I was shocked to find out I was pregnant in the midst of some spotting that I was certain was my "friend" arriving. I had not spotted with any other pregnancy and it made me worry. Then when I went in for my first ultrasound the baby was measuring much smaller than I felt he should be. Having been through a loss before, I was pretty terrified. I just really didn't want to get super excited and then lose another baby. It is hard not to get super excited when everyone around you is happy and excited for you. So, we decided to keep the news a little quiet for a bit longer than we have in the past.

Now things are going very well. The spotting stopped around week 6. The beginning of my pregnancy was actually very much like the pregnancy with the twins. I was very tired and very sick (the sickness is still going strong). In fact, it was so similar that I was a little surprised there weren't two babies in there. By week 10 the baby was measuring right on track and the due date of January 25th was set in stone. That is my dad's birthday so I was pretty excited about that. I have my cervix measured every two weeks (just like I did with Baylor) and everything is looking great.

At my 16 week appointment I knew he would take a peek at the gender just because I get an ultrasound at every appointment. The official anatomy scan isn't until week 20, but I knew the doc would look. Justin was out of town so I had my mom go with me. She has never been to one of our ultrasounds so it was pretty special for both of us that she got to be there. As soon as the doc put the wand on my belly I knew what I was seeing. Right there in the middle of the screen were two legs and a penis. I said, "Is that a penis?!" I was certain this baby was going to be a girl. After all, I felt exactly the way I did with Faith and Avery. Even the weight gain pattern had been the same. I knew we weren't having twins so it must be a girl, right? WRONG! We are having a third son and couldn't be happier. Three boys in our house is going to be amazing!!! I love my boys and I know just how much boys love their moms. I am so excited to get that times three.

Grayson is very excited about another baby. He says we need "more, and more, and more". For a while he called the baby "Noddle". All on his own he came up with that name. We loved it. I thought it was so cute he had a nickname for his little brother or sister. Now that he knows the baby is a boy, he has changed the name to Bodie (again all on his own). Yeah, I don't know where he came up with that either, but that is what he calls the baby. Baylor is going to be a wonderful big brother, but for now I don't really think he has a clue about how our family is about to change. Truth be told, none of us really know what it is going to be like in a house with three boys, three and under. God knows and He must love us a ton to keep blessing us with babies to love on. I can't wait!

ILLNESS AND INJURY

We just can't seem to catch a break in the illness and injury department. Our lives have been really busy lately and having anyone in our family out of commission for a day or more (especially me) really throws a wrench in things. It all started in February when Baylor came down with RSV. Yes, it was bad. He didn't have to be hospitalized but it was pretty rough and took him a full week before he could return to school. We had a little break in March and then in April I had the horrible case of mastitis the day before Grayson's birthday party. I have had mastitis several times. I think this made my fourth, but it was by far the worst case yet. I spent the entire day in bed. Thankfully my doctor trusted me when I called and said I needed strong antibiotics ASAP and I can't come in because I can't drive myself there. He called in the meds and Justin picked them up on his way home from picking up the boys. Then in May Baylor got sick while we were on our trip to St. Lucia. I knew he was feeling pretty rough while we were gone, but by the time we got back he was full blown ill. I took him to the doctor and sure enough he had pneumonia. Bring on the breathing treatments and more missed days of work and school. Here comes June bringing with it my odd ankle injury (the week of Baylor's first birthday) that put me on crutches for a week and in a brace for three weeks. Yeah, they never really figured out what was wrong with it, but after feeling that pain I don't want to know what a broken ankle feels like. Additionally, as if the ankle wasn't enough, Baylor and then Grayson both got pink eye. What would Independence Day be without a little pink eye thrown in. Oh and it couldn't be the generic run of the mill kind. Nope, Baylor had to see a pediatric ophthalmologist because the regular drops just were enough for him. So here we are just finishing up our run with pink eye and facing a big moving weekend for my office. We are changing locations. Guess what! We are all sick. Yep, every last one of us. This has to be the worst cold/sinus junk I have ever dealt with. Justin has it, I have it, Grayson has it, and Baylor has it. I have no voice and feel like I have been hit by a train. Seriously, we have to move my office in the midst of the plague. I feel like we deserve a bit of a break from the illnesses at this point. I mean, I am seriously considering having a special toxic clean-up team come in to clean our house to make sure all the germs are GONE. Something has got to give!

BAYLOR BOO TURNS ONE

That's right folks, my sweet baby is one. He is quickly growing out of the baby stage much to his mommy's disappointment. I would swear that the younger kids grow up so much faster just because they have an older sibling they are trying to keep up with.

For his birthday party we had a swimming party at his Nannie and Grandpa's house. They have a really nice pool and a nice big yard so it was perfect. Baylor's nursery theme is turtles, so his first birthday theme was turtles. It was mostly family and a few close friends there. Since my dad lives about an hour from where we are, we didn't expect a lot of our friends to drive that far to the party. A few did and the reminder that we have friends who love our kids so much was nice.

On his actual birthday we planned to take muffins to his preschool class. However, Baylor got sick and was not able to go to school that day. It was the last week of the 1st Summer session before the week long break. So, no class party this year. We will have to really make a big deal next year. We did have a party for him at home and made sure he knew it was his special day. He loved every time someone sang Happy Birthday to him and was trying to sing it himself by the end of the day.

I always make the boys' cakes on their birthdays, but that was not an option for Baylor's party. I injured my ankle and was on crutches all week. Crutches and a bum ankle make cake baking and decorating impossible. A couple of weeks before we went to a friend's birthday party and her cake was adorable and yummy. I was able to get in touch with the lady who did that cake and she assured me that it would be no problem to do a cake for the party five days away. I sent her a picture of the nursery crib bedding so she would know the color scheme of the party, described the cake I had in mind, and told her that I trusted her artistic talents to do what she thought would look good. I had viewed some cakes she did on a website and felt like she was a great cake decorator. I am now convinced those pictures can't be her work and I am seriously doubting she actually did my friend's cake. The cake was horrible. The colors were all wrong. The turtles on the cake looked like something a preschooler made out of play dough. The stripes were uneven and the fondant was bubbled and cracking. The cake was 2-tiered and the top tier was collapsing into the bottom tier because she used straws for support instead of cakes dowels. On top of that it didn't even taste good. You could totally tell she baked it months ago and it had been sitting in a freezer. Baylor's smash cake looked like something a middle school kid made, but it did at least taste good. I guess she baked it fresh the week of. Never again will I let someone else make a cake for the boys' birthdays. Lesson learned!

Baylor loves anything that goes. He loves riding toys and he loves to push his brother's cars and motorcycles around. He really likes to clap for himself and to sing. His favorite songs are Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Itsy Bitsy Spider. He is very independent for the most part. At least once a day he likes to go into his room alone and just play by himself. He loves his brother, no doubt about that, and any time Grayson plays with him he is on could nine. However, there are those times when Baylor just wants to be in his room playing alone. He will stay in there for about an hour and totally entertain himself.

Baylor has taken some steps but still prefers to crawl. Crawling is faster! He is also in to everything. He loves to eat and will scarf down just about anything you put in front of him. At his birthday party he devoured his cake. In fact, we had to take it away from him. At his check-up he weighed almost 20 lbs. Baylor is energetic and runs full throttle from the time he wakes until he crashes into the bed. Despite his enormous amount of energy and desire to be in to everything he is still the best cuddle bug I know. Baylor loves to cuddle and snuggle. He will crawl right up in your lap, put those little arms around your neck, nuzzle his face into your chest, and just squeeze as tight as he can. When he is tired he will tuck those little arms down in front of his stomach and just snuggle there. Those are some of my most favorite moments of the day. He has the cutest personality, seriously he is just overflowing with it. He has the most hysterical expressions and although he isn't saying much yet, you can tell what he is thinking because it is written all over his face. Baylor can say a few things besides "daddy" which he has been saying since about 8 months. He can also say "bye-bye", "ma-ma", and "uh-oh". He is a very rough and tumble kind of kid and has no fear. He goes after things with all of his will and gets very frustrated when he can't get or do what he wants. Nothing makes him more frustrated than to hear the word "no". I joke that we should get Baylor a job testing all things that claim to be baby-proof or child friendly. He like to push the limits and if there is a barrier in his way he uses his determination and strength (yeah he is strong) to try to get past it. We have had the same baby-proof door knob cover on the door knob to our garage since Grayson was born. For a while Baylor has been pulling up trying to grab it, but he hasn't been tall enough. On the day he became tall enough to reach it he climbed up, grabbed a hold, and ripped the thing right off. I have never seen a more determined child. My prayer is that God will use that determined spirit and loving heart in a mighty way.

Happy 1st Birthday, Baylor Boo! We love you so very much!!!

St. Lucia

This year has gotten off to a rough start. We have been through a major and expensive flood at our rental property, lots of sickness, and some big changes at my job that make the future very scary. What better time than now for a getaway? Fortunately we have two very special friends, Matt and Kelly, who decided to get married in a really beautiful place. On May 11th Justin and I said good-bye to our boys for seven days and boarded a place to paradise. It was an amazing trip and I know of no other way to sum it up than to post a few pics.

Here we are on one of our first days having lunch at our wonderful resort.

Kacey and I have been great friends since college. She lives in FL and it was such a treat to spend time with both she and her sweet hubby.

Here we are in the healing mud bath of a volcano. Don't judge! It was good for your skin. Oh and the other couples are Kacey and Chris and Matt and Kelly(the bride and groom).

Here are the girls with the beautiful bride.

The bride and groom with all of their wedding guests. Are they loved or what? That is one large group considering everyone traveled from pretty far away to be there. Most of Matt's family came all the way from the UK.

One last one of the hubby and I doing what you do on a Tropical Island at an all inclusive resort. You relax!

Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Edwards for allowing us to be a part of your special day. It was a trip we will never forget.

TWO YEARS

Faith and Avery are two years old today and they are celebrating in heaven instead of here with us. In some respects this day has gotten easier and in some ways it is so much harder with each passing year. Easier because time heals everything to an extent. Easier because today is a birthday it isn't the day we said good-bye two years ago. Easier because we aren't still sitting in the hospital in disbelief. We have accepted and done our best to move forward.

But it is harder in so many ways. Its harder because we don't have little toddler girls running around our house and I think about that every day. Harder because twins are everywhere and I am sure I have seen at least a dozen today. Harder because with each passing year what we thought would be is further and further away.

God did a lot of good things in our life through the loss of our daughters. That I will never deny. I also know better than to question His most perfect plan. BUT today I am allowed to just be a bit angry, a lot sad, and a mom who did the one thing no mother should never have to do. I am a mom who held her daughters as life left their little bodies two years ago today and that is just hard.