October 31, 2008, at 10:43 pm | Happy Halloween! There were too many cute Halloween pictures to choose from, so I gave in and posted them all!
 
Our “little pumpkins” are wearing these darling onesies from Jim’s cousins Joe and Sadie.
Our niece Allison got the girls their very own Halloween bibs!
My co-worker Marci gave the girls the adorable costumes: Rebecca is a sunflower and Susanna is a poodle. The girls went trick-or-treating at Jim’s Nana’s apartment and at his Uncle Jeff and Aunt Mary’s house. It was a wonderful evening!
 
 
 
October 30, 2008, at 5:36 pm | For those of you who are familiar with Jim, you know that he is never happier than when he is buying and enjoying toys of all varieties: technological gadgets, boats, ATVs, games, etc. Well, his love of toys has now expanded to benefit his daughters. No, he hasn’t yet bought them their own mini four-wheelers (although he has threatened – er, promised – to do just that). He came home the other night toting a big box emblazoned with the Disney logo, grinning as if he had just drove up in a shiny new car. He had me quickly open the box, and I found that he had purchased a unique “tummy time†toy. The child lays on an elevated, spinning platform and plays with attached toys on a mat. I had never seen such a toy, and we were both excited to see how the girls would interact with it. The recommended age range is 0-6 months, but we weren’t sure how well the girls would do, since they aren’t quite long enough to reach the mat with their feet. However, we were thrilled when we plunked Susanna down on it, and she looked around with nearly the same joy that her father displayed when he brought it home. She can’t turn herself yet, but we took turns spinning her little body and laughing as she stretched out like a pint-sized superman flying through the air. The family fascination with toys lives on!
 
October 28, 2008, at 11:07 pm |
Happy three-month birthday, Susanna Joy!
We had a nice, lazy day in the house listening to the rain outside. I was so grateful to be able to spend it at home with my daughters. Being a stay-at-home mom is a wonderful luxury for which I am so thankful. I can’t imagine having to leave the girls every day to go to work. I honestly wake up every morning looking forward to spending the day with them. Well, let me rephrase that: By the time I am fully awake and can think coherently, I look forward to spending the day with them. In the first few minutes after waking up, the only thing I’m looking forward to is the next time my head hits the pillow!
October 27, 2008, at 10:14 pm | It’s hard to believe that three months ago today, I was in labor. Happy three-month birthday, Rebecca Faith! (Don’t worry, Susanna – I’ll wish you a happy birthday tomorrow!).
The girls both awoke early from their afternoon nap and I decided to take a drive with them to put them back to sleep. I packed them into the car and we set out into the beautiful fall day. I was planning on simply driving around, but we passed one of the many state parks near our house and I decided to take a quick stroller ride. I’m very conscious that our outdoor days are numbered and I want to enjoy the fresh air while I don’t have to worry about frostbite. I think the girls enjoyed our little stroll, even though they were too busy viewing the inside of their eyelids to appreciate the fall colors. I was so entranced by the scenery that I failed to notice I was taking the stroller down a bit of a hill. When I reached the bottom, I realized I would have to push the double stroller back up the incline. The stroller isn’t very heavy, but my legs are still a bit jello-like from muscle atrophy I experienced on bedrest, so I huffed and puffed my way back up the hill. I got more exercise than I bargained for today!
After our stroller ride, I drove around for a while longer to take full advantage of the girls’ motion-induced naps. After a while, I decided to get coffee at a drive-through. The problem was, although it was as much a drive-through as any restaurant, it wasn’t drive-through enough. That is to say, there was stopping involved, to place the order and then to pick it up. And of course, stopping triggered the girls’ internal motion-detector – or rather, their lack-of-motion-detector – and my much-relished silent drive was shattered by two vocal back-seat drivers (Attention any innovative folks out there – if you develop a non-stopping drive-through system, I will definitely frequent your establishment, as will every mother of young children in the country. There’s a vast client base awaiting your invention!). Their cries weren’t entirely in vain, however. The wait at the drive-through window was longer than I expected, and I eventually rolled down the back window so the cashier could appreciate the urgency of the situation. The cashier indeed seemed to pick up the pace and apologized for keeping me waiting. He did look sincerely sorry for me! The girls quieted down as I drove away, so as they succumbed to the sedating effects of the car ride, and I drank in the stimulating effects of the java, we had a peaceful end to our outing.
 
October 25, 2008, at 8:07 pm | 
Rebecca (on left) hangs on tight to her sister
Susanna (on right) looks slightly amused by this photo session!
October 23, 2008, at 6:01 pm |
First, Rebecca sizes up her opponent…  Then gives him a good whack! Watch out, Susanna – she’s got a strong right hook!
Susanna prefers to look cute in her hooded sweater rather than worry about silly lions
October 22, 2008, at 11:31 pm | Late this afternoon, both girls were especially fussy and I was a bit befuddled about what course of action to choose. I could: a) continue to let both kids scream and hope they would wear themselves out (unlikely, as they had both been increasing in intensity since they simultaneously woke up from an all-too-short nap); b) pick up and soothe one child while letting the other one fuss; c) attempt the ever-risky two child pick-up maneuver. I opted for the last choice and precariously scooped both kids into my arms and tried to bounce them into submission. Unfortunately, my soothing efforts are compromised when I can only use one arm per child, and thus I was ineffectual on both counts. The girls continued to pick up steam, and I felt steam beginning to rise off my head as well. I laid them back down and decided to try option (b) – choose one child at a time. I began to assess to whom I ought to devote my undivided attention. Susanna had tears streaming down her cheeks and her little legs were pumping furiously, as if she was attempting to propel herself out of harm’s way. Rebecca’s face was scarlet with passionate anger, and had stretched herself ram-rod straight. I thought I detected a slightly higher pitch to Rebecca’s screams, which sometimes indicates she is closer to the apex of her fit and will start to de-escalate shortly. Therefore, I scooped up Susanna, who after a few lingering shudders, opened her eyes and relaxed in my arms. I sat down with her cradled in the crook of my elbow, and she turned her small face toward mine and grinned a huge gummy smile. No trace of despair was left in her demeanor, as if she had been displaying this sunny disposition all afternoon. I asked her if she felt bad that her sister was still crying while she was being held. Her answer? Another big grin.
Epilogue: Rebecca indeed fell asleep by herself, although her slumber only lasted a few minutes. But I’m quickly learning that even a few minutes of silence can do wonders to restore my previously-drained well of patience. I’m also learning that being a mom of twins – or I suspect any mom of multiple children – is a little like being a triage nurse. You’re constantly assessing who is in need of the most immediate attention, and you’ll never be able to help everyone at once. I suppose that could be why the Lord didn’t give us more than two hands: to educate us about priorities and to humble us with limitations.
October 20, 2008, at 11:00 pm | Apparently it was too much to ask for the girls to keep booties on both their feet…
October 19, 2008, at 10:28 pm | The girls attended their first church conference this weekend, and although they didn’t let us listen to all the preachers, we were able to listen to a few of them before we had to make a hasty exit. Tonight, we brought them out to a Children’s Meeting at our church, and they behaved beautifully. Of course, it helped that my friend Julie (an experienced mom of four girls) was holding one or the other the whole time, and they were quite content to be cuddled all evening!
I enjoyed dressing up the girls this weekend, but discovered that while dresses on infants are adorable, they’re also a bit impractical. The fabric kept bunching up so that their little diapered bums were exposed. And of course, their socks never stayed on their feet for more than ten consecutive minutes, so I ended up wrapping them in blankets, but those obscured the pretty dresses! At least the girls will soon be big enough to wear stockings, although my mom warned me that inserting children’s legs into stockings is a battle unlike any I have yet encountered. Oh the joy of being a mom of girls!
I tried to take pictures of the girls in their outfits, but never succeeded in capturing them peaceful at the same time. So, alas, Susanna is hollering in the top picture, and Rebecca is hopping mad in the bottom. The images actually do justice to the girls’ personalities; when Susanna is upset, she moans mournfully as if she’s afraid she’s been abandoned forever. When Rebecca cries, her shrill screams convey an urgent sense of…well, indignation and fury!
I love the looks on the other child’s face – as if she’s asking, “What’s with my sister?!”
October 17, 2008, at 11:22 pm | Jim recently came into the living room to investigate why the girls were hollering, and found me struggling to contain the two wailing wiggle-worms in my arms. I think he must have read the look of exasperation and frustration in my eyes, and he calmly plucked the girls from my tired grasp, sat down on the carpet, and plunked them into his lap. Usually, when the girls are fussy, they like to be nestled close to our chests and rocked into submission. So when I saw his intended position, I expected loud protests to follow. However, once the girls heard their beloved dad’s soothing voice, they calmed themselves and looked around in utter contentment. And although I was a bit jealous that it took Jim only a minute to achieve the state of peace I had been working toward for an hour, I felt more relief and gratitude than anything else. I suspect that the girls’ affection for their father will only increase as they get bigger. I fondly remember spending my childhood evenings eagerly awaiting my own father’s arrival home from work. As soon as he placed his briefcase on the tile floor of the foyer, his arms were all ours! I look forward to our girls experiencing that same excitement at their dad’s homecoming. Even now, in their limited state of awareness, Rebecca and Susanna are definitely daddy’s girls, and I couldn’t be happier. There’s no better place than in daddy’s arms – or in this case, his lap! 🙂
 
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ABOUT US I'm blessed to be saved by the grace of God, loved by my wonderful husband Jim, and embraced by my twin girls, Rebecca Faith and Susanna Joy and my sons Jimmy and Danny. I started this blog in May 2008 when I was hospitalized for pre-term labor at 24 weeks gestation. The Lord allowed me to keep the girls inside until they were 34 weeks along, and on July 27th, Rebecca made her debut, followed by Susanna, five minutes later, on July 28th. We ecstatically welcomed Jimmy into our lives on April 25th, 2011, and Danny on August 31, 2012. This blog has been a personal journal of faith and motherhood and the only way I can remember which child did what and when. Thanks for stopping by to share in my Faith and Joy! Feel free to e-mail me at: [email protected]. |
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