Normal Day

Normal, Everyday Pictures...

One blog I follow ( www.enjoyingthesmallthings.blogspot.com) is such a great inspiration to me on some days. Of course, not every entry she writes is life-changing, but a few have resonated with me, and more importantly, stayed with me. I think about something she wrote about long ago...a poem..

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day, I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."

"Anonymous"

Today -- March 1st, 2011 was a dull-normal day, starting with an early alarm, a rushed Tuesday morning, with sick babies. A day at school, with no life changing breakthrough and a lot of mind-numbing, repetitive behavior control. A stop at the grocery store turned into FINALLY getting home to my babies. My sick babies... I held one, while the other pawed and whined for me. I cooked dinner and then their bath... And THEN I stopped and thought to myself... STOP!...and enjoy. So, we did. We sat and cuddled and sang and danced, we watched the movie "UP" (best movie ever btw) and Henley said her first Rollllll Tide!

As with anyone else, I dream of tomorrow, of some perfect and realized dream in the future. Reality is -- it's HERE! Cliche, I know, but so true.

I stopped and I enjoyed, and I thank God for my normal day. What a treasure it was...

Say "Cheeeeese"

Mom and I noticed that Henley was putting objects up to her eye and saying "cheese!" We do not say or do this at home with the camera, and her teachers at school say it's not done there either? So....we are left with the mystery of where she picked it up. Regardless, we have tested her new "say cheese" trick and she does not disappoint!

First of all, I warned you in the last post -- her teeth are "a little" askew because of her love affair with the pacifier. Of course, being her proud parents, Billy and I think it is probably the absolute cutest thing we (or anyone else) have EVER seen.

This little girl is too funny -- such a personality. Say "Cheeeeeese!"

Oh Random January

As always, January has been quiet and nice, except for the ice storms! I wanted to post a few pictures from the month. The babies are just beyond cute right now. Henley is repeating EVERYTHING and Davis is still very busy, only stopping to talk about trucks or trains. They could not be any more typical boy and girl. She gravitates to anything pink or any babydoll, while he only cares for balls, trucks and "choo choos." How precious they are though -- little sponges soaking up the world around them.

Below is at Nonni's house...the dog crate provides endless (and dirty) entertainment. But hey, whatever works, huh? It is a little out of focus, but for once I got them both smiling at the camera. Rare in our world!

We have heard -- "if you can make it to 2 years with twins, you're golden" I think they have a built in playmate and just entertain each other. Well, with 2 yrs old approaching, we are really starting to reap the benefits of twins. Whew....I thought we'd never get here, but I do see it. I thought I would show a few action shots of the mutual entertaining we are seeing. (Excuse Henley with no PJs...we were getting to it!)
As you can see, Davis is a little bigger/stronger and tends to dominate the wrestling matches, but she is actually starting to hold her own now. We still have to referee of course!
My next post will be about Henley's new say "cheese" and the smile that comes with it....but before I show you those teeth, I thought I would show the culprit. She is completely obsessed with the pacifier. She usually has 2 or 3 with her at all times. I will start limiting her paci time when we hit 2 yrs old....but Oh the love affair. It will be some sad times ahead for the girl. Also out of focus, but we often catch her with 2 pacis in her mouth! Funny girl....
Finally, my dear Meme has recently suffered another stroke and is currently in rehab. We went to visit her on Saturday morning. She looked great and we're so hopeful for the future. I love her dearly -- what a woman. I'm so glad we got to visit with her! I think she looks great...
Well, Happy February.....one step closer to spring y'all!

Much love to all.........

C

1.1.11

In being true to mine own self, I just learned the first day of our new year had the numbers 1.1.11. I think it is a sign of good things to come this year (or so, I hope). The end of a year always makes one reminisce about the year past...this past year has been...amazing to watch the babies grow and learn; this year has been...hard to figure out and continue to juggle work and kids and home; this year has been...sad to see the passing of a dear friend's mother; this year has been...humbling to know we ARE now becoming THAT age; this year has been...fun to spend so many great times with my dearest friends. I could go on, but I think the point is....I'm thankful at the end of 2010.

And with 2011 started, here are some pictures of my "grown" babies the other night after their bath. Oh what a difference a year makes!

Davis is WILD, to say the least. Henley is such a girl, loving anything pink and anything to do with babies. They are saying new things every day. Henley loves to try and mimic the "dancydances" on Yo Gabba Gabba and she's starting to try and sing as well. Davis is just running into walls and jumping off of furniture.

We are loving every minute of this age. In fact, Billy said just the other night..."I think this is my favorite age so far." We shall see I suppose...love to all!

A big weekend

We started this weekend with a BIG first. It was Davis's first haircut. I wrestled with the idea, but we wanted to get some good pictures this weekend, so I decided he needed a little "cleaning up." It is very special because one of my best friends is also our family hairdresser! Chris was so excited about the first cut and we made a big production.

As you can see even with Chris's professionalism, Davis was just not sure about all this haircut business. We put him on the booster chair by himself, smock on and Chris started to cut. It didn't take long until Davis went into complete meltdown mode.

Still looking pretty together....BUT this is how we ended up. Pretty devastating, but Oh SO cute! He looks so much better... and thanks to Chris's suggestion -- I have the first lock of hair in an envelope. Thanks Chris for always remembering the little things! The best hairdresser and friend!!!

The next day, we dressed in our Halloween best and left for Dothan and the Peanut Festival. It was my first and of course, the babies' first festival as well. We had planned it with Billy's family back in the summer and the Gant Family was too excited about showing us the very special, near and dear to their heart....Peanut Festival! Apparently, it is BIG time down in Dothan.

Henley was the belle of the ball! She loves a good festival and just kept walking through the rides waving and saying "heeeeey." I believe she thought everyone came to see her. It was so funny and just too cute.

We even got to pet a Brahma bull. I always thought they were inherently mean, but we were informed by our little "guide," that is just a myth. They were actually really pretty animals.

This was again Miss Henley waving to some festival folks... too funny.
The next day, we decided we might get a Christmas card picture, so we dressed the kids and took them to the botanical gardens. FYI: there is just about NO way to get a decent picture of these two. They are always going different directions, in different moods, etc. Ugh! so frustrating...

I did get some good single shots though.

Davis's new thing -- "Throw your hands UP!"


This was about as good as it got for them together! Don't be surprised if you see it on your card this Christmas.

It was such a fun weekend -- we will definitely be back for an annual visit to the Peanut festival each year.

Welcome Back Henley

First of all I have to take a moment and brag on my girl. I mean just look at that skin and hair? I would die for some olive skin and brown hair. Thanks to my Dad and Ashley, my dream came true for Henley. In the hospital, I remember saying -- "Who knew, I would have a brown baby?" Davis is going to be mighty jealous of that skin later in life! This girl loves to brush those mess of teeth she has (now that is another story and compliments of her much-loved pacifier!) yikes. Um, yeah, those are her real eyelashes as well. I mean...really? They touch her eyebrows!

Not only is she gorgeous, she is SUCH a girl in every way. Her mannerisms and everything the child does screams G-I-R-L. It's really fun to see the difference in them because lord knows, they are completely different. The next two poses just go to show the girl in her. These were taken up at the cabin...what a fun family trip (really our first together).

This next one is out of focus but she is too cute when she's tickled. That smile is priceless! Please ignore me (and my bra strap) -- the focus is on the babies! PLEASE!
This is my girl with her "baby" and it's stroller. She is usually toting her cell phone and purse in hand as well. The "witching hour" was upon us at this point and they were having a grand time running through the house. How cute is that face?
As I said before, this is such a fun time with the babies. Henley is hitting all her milestones as well, saying: dog, horse, duck, car, counting the number 2 and also Mama and Dada (I forgot to mention Davis is saying it too!) She loves to visit the neighbors' dogs everyday and generally loves to relax. It's hard to pull her from her books and Yo Gabba Gabba these days.

Like Davis, she is the light of our lives! Love my little girl....

Welcome Back Davis

We have taken an unwanted break from blogging because our laptop was stolen a couple of weeks ago, but I'm glad to announce....We're BACK! I didn't want to upload too many pictures the first time, so I'm focusing on Davis this time.

I feel like I've said this since at least 12 mo, but this is by far, my favorite time with the babies. They are just precious and learning so much, so fast. Davis says many words, but mostly -- "O.K., dog, cookie, cracker, juice, duck, car, truck," etc... He is everywhere, all the time -- ALL boy! There are not many times to get good shots of him except the other day he decided not to take a nap, so it provided me a time with just him to do a photoshoot. He is our precious boy...just look.

Henley is next -- just wait! Goodness is she ever a doll...