June 12, 2009, at 9:12 pm | The girls are spending the weekend with their Bubba and Pappy, so we had to say goodbye tonight. How can you not be sad leaving such darling little girls?
Susanna
Rebecca
We know they’re in good, loving hands, but still…it nearly broke my heart kissing them on their beautiful bald heads and telling them we’d see them soon. I just keep telling myself that it will be harder on me than it will be on them. They will be getting spoiled by their grandparents the whole time. I can just imagine it now…lots of cuddles, treats, swinging, and singing. The girls will be begging for us to leave them every weekend!
June 11, 2009, at 10:10 pm |
June 10, 2009, at 9:27 pm | Since she’s already mastered Popeye and The Bunny Face, Becky has gone on to perfect her newest trick:
The Kissy Lips.
There’s some crossover with the Bunny Face, because while she’s puckering up for The Kissy Lips, she’s quickly breathing in and out through her nose, as if she’s sniffing for something in the air.
She thinks it’s hilarious, and loves to make the face for me. Don’t you just want to kiss her right back?!
June 9, 2009, at 10:07 pm | I had my first encounter with the “too quiet†phenomenon; as in, “Hmmm…the girls are being too quiet.†You know, the instant you realize that you haven’t heard the normal crash, bang, boom from the next room where the kids are playing. It’s silent, and that means they’re occupied with something very interesting.
Something they shouldn’t have been playing with in the first place.
Something that you thought was on a shelf out of their reach.
Something that is fun to scrunch/bend/chew.
Like photographs.
But how can you get mad at a face like that?
(Mom, the photos they most mangled were the ones from your visit in February. They must have been trying to hug your picture because they missed you so much!)
June 8, 2009, at 9:49 pm | Yesterday, we bought one of those bike-trailer thingies (that’s the technical term) so we can tow the girls behind a bike. We strapped them in to see how they liked it. They were surprisingly laid-back about the new seating arrangement!
Susie thought Becky looked pretty funny with all the straps
We still have some strap adjustments to make. Susie offered to do adjust her sister’s ear for good measure.
June 7, 2009, at 10:10 pm | My good friend Brittny sent the girls these adorable summer dresses. I wanted to get a cute picture of them sitting side-by-side, but this was the best I could do:
The girls were in good moods today, even though you can’t tell that from their dour expressions!
Thanks, Brittny, for at least putting a smile on MY face!
Here’s a quick video clip of the girls this morning. They were again more interested in trying to take the camera rather than getting their picture taken:
June 6, 2009, at 10:26 pm | I know I said in a previous post that I need to exercise more.
But this was a bit much.
It all started when Jim and I decided to spend the afternoon hiking while the girls were at my in-laws. At first, when I saw that the weather forecast was 77 degrees and sunny, I worried that Jim would make a last-minute plea for a boating excursion, but he never even mentioned it (although I may have seen him cast a longing glance or two toward the barn where our boat is stored). We dropped the girls off and headed North to Mt. Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts. It was a gorgeous drive on scenic back roads, and I nearly fell asleep I was so relaxed. It was such a nice change of pace to be in the car and not have my ears constantly scanning for choking/gasping/breath holding sounds (the stuff of nightmares for first-year moms while babies are in rear-facing carseats and you can’t tell if their silence is due to contented sleep or frantic choking).
Anyway, we arrived at our destination and grabbed a trail map. I pointed out to Jim that there were several lovely hiking loops labeled “Easy†and I suggested that we pick one of those, given that I hadn’t engaged in any serious exercise (other than my one hula-hooping attempt) in a year and a half. Jim scoffed and informed me that “Easy†is boring. “What we need,†he said, “is a trail with lots of big rocks to climb.†He recalled how much fun we had in Stowe, Vermont hiking up a steep mountain peak. I reminded him that we did that hike two years and two children ago, but he’d already found the perfect trail on the map: one labeled “Strenuous.â€
Strenuous. Not even Moderate. Strenuous.
It started off gradually, in an open meadow, and I hoped that the map-labeling cartographers had overestimated the severity of the hike. And then we started to go up…and up…and so did my heart rate. Within minutes, we were deep in the forest and climbing. Strenuous, indeed. Jim was covered in sweat, and I was regretting the big McDonald’s meal we had prior to arrival (I figured we were going hiking, after all – so a few extra ice cream cone calories would get quickly burned off!). We paused to take a breather, and I checked my watch to see how long we had been engaged in such muscle-making exertion. Ten minutes. Well.
I was further dismayed when I noticed that every other hiker we passed was hauling backpacks and serious equipment around with them. I hadn’t even brought a water bottle. One man even carried a pick-axe. Jim observed he was probably a trail maintenance volunteer, but I voted for axe-murderer, or at least something else macabre like grave-digger for exhausted, underprepared, out of shape hikers.
But despite the incline, and despite my weariness, it was a thoroughly enjoyable hike. We didn’t make it to the trail summit, but we saw some amazing scenic views nonetheless. And as I trudged through the underbrush, I even had some time for philosophizing. Jim had advised me that hiking is easier when you keep your focus on the path ahead of you, rather than looking down at your feet. As I attempted to follow his advice, I thought about how this tip is applicable in many areas of life – keeping my head up and not getting overly concerned with the metaphorical roots and rocks in my midst indeed makes daily life easier. Of course, maybe I should have also noted that hiking is easier when one keeps one’s thoughts out of the clouds so as to pay attention to the task at hand – namely, putting one foot in front of the other on a rocky path. I’m not great at multi-tasking, which includes walking and philosophizing.
We descended without incident and collapsed into the car, tired and sweaty and happy. We drove the rest of the way to the summit, and I snapped this picture. Hey, at least I saw the top, even if I can’t say I hiked there!
The views were awe-inspiring.
But you know what was the best view of all?
The one we saw when we got back home. Guess who was waiting outside for us on the porch swing!
Now that is awww-inspiring, is it not?
June 5, 2009, at 10:40 pm | I have seen the future, and it is exhausting! I thought it was hard to take a picture of my girls now that they’re crawling – tonight, I got a glimpse of how difficult it is to take a picture of two big girls who just don’t stop! My friend Alyson came over this evening with her husband Roger and daughters Maddison (3) and Jordyn (2). I had planned to get a group shot of all the girls together, but my attempts resembled cat-herding, and were ultimately futile. But even though the girls didn’t all stay in one place, they certainly enjoyed being together. It was fun to watch Rebecca and Susanna gape at the activity around them. I don’t know exactly what my girls found so fascinating – perhaps the big girls’ mobility, their vocabulary, or maybe just their plentiful, flowing hair!
Maddison and Jordyn loved playing with my girls’ toys – I’m hoping that means that I’ll get a few good years’ worth of playtime out of our current stash of toys. If we add many more items, we’re going to run out of room for anything else, like furniture!
Here Maddison is displaying her button-pushing prowess. My girls were impressed.
Don’t you just love it when kids entertain each other, and the grown-ups can just sit back and talk? (Or take pictures, as the case may be!).
June 4, 2009, at 11:21 pm | Jim got home from work early today and the girls were ecstatic to have extra time with their playmate. In their joy, they scampered in circles around the room, crawling under and over everything in sight while Jim snapped pictures of them.
Susie’s got her hands full
It won’t be long before they’re mowing the lawn (Jim hopes!)
Susie sees Dad with the camera and makes a run for it
Becky’s telling her dad all about her adventures today
Susie gets up close and personal with her dad
Here’s a video of Susie NOT waving. A few days ago, she began waving on command (well, on her dad’s command – she won’t do it for me!). All Jim has to say is, “Susie, can you wave?†and she raises her right arm and flaps her hand up and down, as if she’s exercising her wrist. Of course, once I turned the camera on her tonight, she decided to save her internet waving debut for another day. But it’s a cute video nonetheless, especially at the end when both girls attempt to crawl into my lap. It’s hard to hold a video camera steady when there are four tiny hands pulling at it!
June 3, 2009, at 10:23 pm |
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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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