Our Newest Addition

The Gant side of our family has some great news....On July 12th, Billy's sister, Amy, had a precious little girl. Her name is Anne Claire and she just completes their little family. We went this week and spent the day with the Underwoods and felt completely blessed to be surrounded by so many little ones.

Here are her first two, Gant (age 4) and Reid (age 15 mo)

This is about the best we could do for the group photo of the older cousins

I promise my two had a good time even though they look extremely unhappy in this picture! It was the end of the day, but it is great of the Underwoods.

Henley finally got her first GIRL cousin. The girls meet for the first time -- I love the way Anne Claire was looking up at her.
This is Miss Anne Claire Underwood -- pretty and perfect.
This picture doesn't really make sense, but I had to post it. Henley was being shy with the camera and debuted a new smile. So funny...this girl!
Well, the summer is coming to an end...it is sad, but I'm gearing up for another good school year. I have loved being home with the babies and look forward to another relaxing, trip-filled summer next year.

In the Groove

Last summer was spent sitting in the house waiting for Billy to get home so I could go to the grocery or anywhere for that matter. I could NOT figure out how to get out of the house with two small babies. We grew used to our "tag-team" parenting style. But this summer, I'm happy to announce I have figured it out! I will say, it is much easier now that the babies are getting older (easier and harder at the same time). Below is my view as we are headed for our daily outings. Usually it consists of some sort of retail establishment, a friend's house here and there, or maybe a trip to Gadsden. It's so nice to not be banished to the house anymore -- yeah for us!

It's a good thing I'm not a stickler for rules, b/c with twins you have to break one here and there. Like below....I'm sure you have disregarded this one a time or two as well?

It ends up looking a little like this.... I put Henley in the basket because she is much less of a threat to jump. Little Missy is quite happy in the basket and she takes up less space and is usually covered in groceries by the end of the trip. She never complains though -- I think she likes breaking the rules too!

I'm pretty sure the store probably means NONE of "this" when they made the warnings. Oh well, what is a Mom to do when you have two?

Sorry for the lack of pictures. We have been on the road this summer and it's been grand! Billy and I have been on a few adult trips and we have also been with family...mainly all at the beach. I'm so thankful and lucky to be able to have this time in the summer to catch up with friends and family and just renew myself.

I have loved spending "normal" days with my babies too. Thank God for the "normal" day. I'm going to try and stay thankful for my "normal" work days when school starts as well. After all, we are so blessed to have jobs, much less our health and happiness. Here's to Summer.....loving every minute of it!

Summertime in the City

One of my favorite things last summer was taking the twins on walks. We all loved it, BUT it seems like last summer was a lot cooler as well. We have not been out as much in our stroller this year, but the times we have, have been great. Oh how this view has changed in a year!

And OH how the fighting has begun between these two. If one baby is interested in something (a toy, bottle, parent, etc...) it gets the other one's attention and.....the fight begins! And yes, you heard me right, we are still on the bottle. I have taken it away except for one in the morning and one at night. Henley just loves that bottle -- I know I need to give it up, but it might be next week's battle.

This was just bothering for the sake of bothering. Davis LOVES to get a handful of Henley's hair and PULL, HARD! It is just not fair -- a) because he is bigger and b) because it HURTS! We have tried pulling his hair after he pulls hers and he's starting to get it, but wow these two are so different.

Oh but look at those faces! They are so fun and watching those different personalities grow together is something special. Even though we struggle with having two, I also can't imagine not having either one. They are dear souls....dear, but so different.

This is Davis waiting on some waffles. I love being able to relax and eat breakfast with them. It's so nice not to be putting on makeup, packing lunches all while throwing b'fast down their throats. ahhhh, summer.

Henley is always very intense when watching her "stories." The girl will stop in her tracks for an episode of Backyardagains. We try and limit her story intake some days, but the girl just lives for it. Maybe she'll have a great attention span? I know better, but what do you do?

We had our annual summer trip to my friend Kelli's house/pool. I have learned we need an outing everyday and this was a good one! It wore them out. Of course, we also wore Kelli out but she was a good sport. Have I mentioned how HOT it is this summer? Please ignore the sweat sheen only 5 min out of the pool. Ridiculous!

We have a few more trips on the horizon before the dreaded month of August. Boooo! But no need to think about that now....Summer is HERE!

School's out for SUMMER

You know that feeling you got when it was the last day of school. How do you explain it? It's just the best feeling ever....freedom. Well, being a teacher allows me to have that feeling every year....still. It. Is. Awesome. This year was no different and I hit the ground running. Billy and I packed up and went to the beach with friends for Memorial Day. The babies stayed with his parents in Dothan. We had a blast! Then we came back only to turn around and head back to the beach with my family for an entire week. It has been such a much needed let down after a long school year. Here are some pictures from our week with the family.

We had a private pool with a "zero entry." As you can see it was great for the babies to play. Of course, it is still a challenge with 2 babies, but the pool was great.
I don't know if we were crazy or really smart, but we scheduled a photographer to come take some pictures of the family. It was REALLY hard to get everyone together and half-way happy. After it was over, Ashley had the quote of the trip -- "I feel like I need to go to the hospital." Needless to say, we didn't think we got any good shots. But, the next day, to our surprise the photographer sent us proofs that turned out great! We also took some shots with our camera during the shoot and I got a great one of Davis and then one below of Mom and Dad. We'll just say, Henley does NOT like sand, that or either photoshoots?

Mom and Dad and two good-looking 61 year olds!

Henley was only happy being held on the beach. No sand for her this trip. Maybe next year and thank God for the pool!

When good times go bad

Big news to report this week: Davis is walking! I can't believe it's already here. He is VERY proud of himself! Henley is still a little far away from walking...she is pulling up and I think seeing Davis moving is making her "exercise" a little more. He is inspiring her!

They have a very fun new game that utilizes both of their skills: Davis's walking and Henley's sitting. He loves to push her around in the wagon and she loves to ride...

They are really beginning to play together and it's precious. Of course, Davis is a wee bit bigger and stronger and sometimes it doesn't turn out so good.

This is documentation of the bullying. Look closely and you can see Davis start to grab some hair....and PULL, HARD!

and this is when good times go bad...Oh well, it's fun for a little while!

Happy Mother's Day

Since I have no recollection of last year's mother's day...I'm really not kidding, no idea what I did or how we celebrated. This year was really special because I felt like it was my first Mother's day as a mother. We drove to Gadsden and spent the day with my whole family, always a fun time! This was even better because the weather was beautiful and we decided to utilize Mom and Dad's backyard. It was just a really nice day....

Henley's bangs have gotten so long now, she requires a small bow to hold them back. Of course, you can only imagine the battle to keep it in all day.

Nonni and Henley

I just have to recognize the cutest outfits in the whole world! Compliments of Nonni... Excuse Henley's pants not being on, but I just had to show the backs of these outfits. Just too cute!

Baptism & Birthday

The more I think about it, the more perfect it was. We decided to combine the babies' 1st birthday and their baptism all in one. It was an emotional day on so many levels. My babies turned 1 year old! That in itself is emotional, but also we officially "gave" them back to the Lord. This was full circle for me because during my struggle with infertility, I promised God over and over that whatever baby he gave me, I would do my best to raise it in Him. I felt like the baptism was a symbol of giving a little back and recognizing how much we have been given and how very blessed we feel.

Of course, the day couldn't start out without a little drama from Henley. You would have thought we were sticking her with needles when we put her dress on her. Typical for the girl!

Davis was a champ about it. Nothing much bothers to boy. He was, of course, very interested in the service and what was happening to him. Just wants to figure it ALL out.

These pictures don't have to best backgrounds. Our church does not have a building yet and we meet in a high school for the time being. Anyway, I included the pic below to show off Henley's dress. It doesn't do it justice by any means. Mom made both dresses. Of course, the boy's dress was old hat since she has made 3 for the boys before Davis. But Henley's was another story. She, of course out did herself. The dress is just amazing and I was so proud to have such pieces of artwork on the babies. It was special... I think that became the theme of the day.

Here's our proud family after the service. We feel so very blessed to have been given these children.

Dad and Davis

Nonni trying to keep Henley occupied during the service

After the service, my entire family and Billy's family met at Wilson's house. It was so special to have everyone together to celebrate.

Billy's mom and dad with the twins...