New Year

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by! I thought the boys first year went by extremely slow, mainly because we had no clue what we were doing and were majorly sleep deprived. The older the boys get the faster time seems to go by. As I am sorting pictures from this past year I look at some of them and can't believe that it happened a year ago. They looked like little babies a year ago! They have grown and develop so much this past year and it is so amazing to me.There have been a lot of days that I wonder how am I going to make it until 6 when Andy gets home, but lately there have become more and more days that are just so fun and easy. The boys definitely still have their moments of fighting over toys, but luckily they are in alternating good and bad weeks. Discipline also has its moments, but today I was thinking about how great 1-2-3 magic is and with Carter it really is magic. I really hope that the 3's are not going to be as bad as everyone says. The 2's mostly certainly have had there moments, but I wouldn't say terrible.

I never make resolutions, because I think they are stupid and no one ever sticks to them. I have decided to just do what I should do everyday except really mean it this time-I am going to try to be a more patient mother and wife and try to always see the bright side. I am the most inpatient person, I think that is one of the reasons the good Lord blessed me with twins. I am also going to try and let go of a lot stuff and work on the relationships in my life. As the boys get older I want them to be loving towards each other and to others and the best way for them to learn is to watch their parents.

For the last two days they have been so compassionate to each other. Carter bumped his head this morning and Cale ran over to kiss his booboo and gave him a hug and then a little while later Cale got a booboo and Carter gave him hugs and tried to give him a kiss, but Cale wasn't in the mood and Carter was really upset because Cale would not let him kiss him. Their love for each other is so great and wonderful and I wish everyone could have that kind of love for their family members. I know that I take it for granted that I have these two wonderful, smart, healthy boys and I am going to try hard to fight the negatives in my life and live everyday for the blessings that I have. I hope that everyone else can start their new year off in a wonderful and loving way and that you can also try and count your blessings daily!

(These pics were from a while ago, but they still hug and kiss)

More Christmas Pictures

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve through the way home from our travels to see both of our families. Enjoy!

Another Adventure Filled Christmas

For the 4th year in a row someone in our house has been sick during Christmas. three years ago I was sick and still suffering from morning sickness, two years ago both the boys were sick and on the nebulizer and then the day after Christmas Andy got very sick with a stomach bug that lasted a week. Last year the boys were sick and then I got sick on Christmas day with a stomach bug. This year Carter got sick first on Saturday night with a high fever that lasted until Christmas Eve and just when we thought we were in the clear Cale woke up about every hour Christmas Eve and into Christmas morning with a high fever. The day after Christmas he seemed to be a little better, but then I gave him milk in the middle of the night and made him puke, but finally that seemed to make him feel better. Lastly, this morning Andy woke up with a fever and has been sick and in bed all day. I am starting to feel like we will never have a "normal" Christmas around here, because someone is always feeling grumpy and fussy on Christmas day. Oh well, on with how our Christmas was celebrated when someone wasn't sick. We ended up feeling good enough to try and go to the Christmas Eve service at Church. We have never done this before because there is no childcare and we made it through about 20 minutes of the service. The boys did enjoy some of it, but couldn't last any longer. We then went to the K&S Caf. for supper (it was ok, no K&W that's for sure). Came home and let the boys open one present. It was a gift from a friend of ours and they each got a tow truck and race car. They LOVED it! It was the happiest Carter had been in several days. I then dressed them in their matching pj's I got last year after Christmas for only $2 at Old Navy! Andy says they look like they escaped from prison, but I think they are cute. On Christmas morning we finally got up to stay up around 7:30. My parents had come in and crashed on the couch, because they had to bring my aunt to the airport here in Raleigh at 4 that morning (she was going to surprise her son and his family that live in California and they were very surprised and happy to see her). When the boys got up they went in the living room and started asking for their new trucks and cars they got the night before, who cares about all the other new toys "Santa" left. They finally saw their other toys and never even noticed my parents laying on the couch. Open presents went much smoother this year than in years past. When They had opened everything up stairs I had Carter go and open the blinds, which were over the couch my mom was laying on, and when he got over to her leg he looked very confused and then noticed it was her. The boys were very excited and shy because they were not expecting to see Mawmaw and Papaw.
We then cooked a big breakfast/brunch. After eating we took them down to the playroom were Santa left them their big present, a train table. They were so excited, but from being so tired from being up and down all night they kept getting frustrated when their trains would come off the tracks. We decided it was time for an earlier nap, for everyone and my parents headed back to their house to get ready for us to come there. We left later on Christmas day to head to my parents, because the day after we were doing Christmas at my parent's with my brother and his family. When we got to my mom's I realized I forgot my CAMERA!! I am pretty crazy about taking pictures, so I wanted to drive back to Raleigh from Greensboro to grab it, but Andy talked me out of it. So the pictures I have are from my mom's camera and my sister in law, Beth. Thank you both so much!! We had a great time with my family. The boys of course got way too much stuff! That's ok it will keep them busy until their birthday, which is in May. It was so nice, once the kids opened their presents they all sat and played and let us adults open our presents.

The next day, after Cale recovered from his mommy induced 4 am vomiting episode, we left to head up to Sparta to do Christmas with Andy's side of the family. It was really nice. The boys had a great time! I was hoping for snow, but maybe sometime really soon it will snow and we can make it up there to play. It is very relaxing up there and the boys love riding the wagon around and around on the deck. They once again, got a lot more stuff to keep them occupied and out of my hair for at least 20 minute stretches of time. All in all I would say this has been our best Christmas yet with kids. Christmas day got kind of stressful with Cale not feeling well and me forgetting a lot of stuff., but we all recovered and had many more good times than bad. That is something that is hard to do in this family so far. We are kind of like the Griswolds when it comes to family time, too high of expectations and too much bad luck. I am looking forward to things turning around for us though and this being the end of the sick Christmas'. I will post more pictures tomorrow, hopefully!

Decorating Adventure

On Friday the boys helped me decorate Rice Krispie treats. I have never done this before, but saw it done somewhere and thought it might be fun. I had them is a star, tree, and snowman shapes. Andy thought it was going to be a disaster (of course because he is mister negative), but they did so good. Carter kept wanting to eat the Reece's Pieces that we used, but he finally started saying, "Wait, don't eat now, eat later." Cale took his decorating very seriously. He didn't eat any until he was done and it was ok to start eating. My mom was here to help me around the house, so she helped the boys too. I was a lot of fun and I think the boys had lots of fun too!

School Christmas Party

The boys and I had our last day of school last Wednesday. They had a little Christmas party in their class, which they enjoyed. They love to eat! They are always the last ones at the table. In fact at their party Carter didn't even want to participate in the book exchange because he didn't want to leave his food. Cale seemed a little confused at first, like hey why are mom and dad at tea party? Later he warmed up and ate his food and participated in the book exchange.

Cale with his, "What is going on?" look.

The boys' class, minus the 3 kids that were sick. That's the worst part about preschool. Although the kids haven't been as sick as I would have thought. The best thing though is definitely all the cute crafts they bring home. The made such cute ornaments and magnets!

Cale waiting his turn to choose a wrapped book.

Christmas Pictures

Here are some more pictures that I took while trying to get a good Christmas card picture. I ended up deciding on the first one, because Andy said it was funny that Cale looks so sweet and innocent in that picture and he has been quite a handful lately. Cale really knows how to smile pretty in pictures. I think they look a lot alike in the last picture. I never think they look identical at the time, but when I look back at pictures of them younger I think they look alike. I have always been able to tell them apart and so it is so hard when people ask how we tell them apart, because to me they look totally different. Andy told me to stop saying that answer because it makes me sound crazy, but I really do think they look totally different (except for first thing in the morning before I have fully woken up and haven't had my coffee). This morning for some reason I kept getting them mixed up and I never do that! I think it was the Tylenol PM I took at 10 last night and the fact that Carter was up with a croupy sounding cough at 12. I was a zombie all morning even at MOPS after I had had my coffee!

Interesting Week

We have had a very interesting past week. We started really potty training last Thursday. I mean we went full force into underwear and I am not quiting this time! It got to the point where I just thought wow we go through up to 18 diapers a day! That is on average $50 a week in diapers! I never added up how many they went through as newborns, but it was a lot. We are talking about for just the first month feeding every 2 hours and they were changed before and after a feeding, wow! It has not been what I would call a successful event. Carter has peed in the potty twice and Cale once. Hopefully they will catch on in a couple of weeks. I would much rather do the laundry than buy diapers. Cale held his pee all day at school yesterday, until he got into the car. Luckily we have lap pads down and it absorbed all the pee. Sometimes I think that maybe they aren't ready, but then I think they will catch on if we stay consistent which is so hard!

Here are the some pics from the boys' teacher.

Last weekend the boys went to my parents because Andy and I had his work's Christmas dinner. We also got a lot of Christmas shopping done. I only have one more person to buy for! Andy was also able to finish putting up the Christmas lights, even though our house still doesn't look like the Griswolds it will have to do for this year. I was able to have a couple meals out with friends and it is always nice to have girl time.

I have been pretty busy with my business. The other week I had 7 orders in one week! Luckily they were all needed at different times, but I love doing it so it wouldn't matter if they were all needed the same day! I also sold my first two things out of my ETSY shop! Andy and I went Saturday to look at an embroidery machine and I am hoping soon that I can get into doing monograms and names on the burp cloths and blankets.

Nothing else really exciting has been going on around here. The boys are loving the Christmas lights and the tree. They have surprisingly not even touched the presents under the tree. I guess they aren't as mischievous as I thought they were. Carter goes up to everything and says,"No touch mommy, just look." I can't wait until Christmas morning! We are praying this year that no one will be sick, the boys or Andy or me have been sick the past two Christmas'. They have also been teething the past two Christmas' but that will not be the case this year, because they have all their teeth! I am so thankful that stage is over! They don't understand that Santa brings presents, which is fine with us, and they don't really seem to care. I'm sure after Christmas it will all click.

More Christmas Decorations

We put up a few more things this weekend. My goal is to have a Christmas tree or something Christmasy in every room. You only get to enjoy it once a year, so I really want to enjoy it.
There are definitely more outside lights to come. What we have now looks kinda skimpy, but that is all we had time for on Saturday afternoon.


Here is a tree I put up in the basement just outside the playroom. I was going to put it in the playroom, but the boys can be a a little wild down there. Next I am looking for a nativity scene that the boys can touch and learn about. I have a couple ceramic ones around the house and they are really interested in them. That after all is the TRUE meaning of Christmas, all this other stuff is just for fun.

Riding Bikes

The boys love "riding" their bikes. They refuse to use the pedals or even let us help them use the pedals so they just Flintstone it on their bikes. Our driveway has a very slight hill to it. just enough for them to lift their feet and rdie down the hill. So that is pretty much all they do. "Pedal" to the top of the driveway then Carter turns around and lifts his feet, but Cale on the other hand just gets to the top and then lifts his feet and goes down backwards.

Here is Carter doing it the safe way.

Cale falling over because it isn't really safe to ride down backwards.

As you can tell he thinks it is funny, probably because Mommy is laughing too and Daddy is yelling that it isn't funny and the people that were walking down our street were probably thinking, "those dumb, young parents" (because Andy and I look all of 20 years old).

Helping Daddy Rake Leaves

On Saturday Andy finally got around to raking the massive amounts of leaves in the backyard, but this year he had two terrific helpers. Cale and Carter loved helping rake the backyard with Andy. They were both willing to wear their gloves and the hats they have on have lasted us three winters! Yes, they are size 12-18 months and they wore them their first winter. Talk about getting your money's worth or either they had really big heads as infants.

Cale with his rake

Carter working hard.

Christmas Time!!

I love Christmas time! I love the smell of the fresh tree, the lights and decorations. This year I was a little nervous at how the tree thing was going to go with boys. I have heard others who do not bother with trees, but that is so not an option, or only putting ornaments on the top of the tree. Last year we put the superyard, aka baby jail, around the tree and that is not pretty. Well this year I really did not want the tackiness of baby jail again, nor do I want any of my ornaments broken or rearranged.

(Baby Jail guarding the tree last year)

So we decided to go with no baby jail and just teach the kids not to touch. It has gone surprisingly well, but the tree has only been up for 48 hrs and decorated for 24 hrs. They have not touched the tree or tried to knock it down (which is what my worst fear has been). We have had a tree fall down before (Christmas Eve 2003) and it isn't as bad as it seems, but with kids I really don't want to go through that again.

We rearranged the living room. I like it this way. Last year it felt like the tree stuck out way to far into the living room, but then again we had a very fat tree last year. I love fat trees. The one this year is not fat enough.

I am a perfectionist, so the kids did not help me in any way, shape or form and neither did Andy. I decorated while the kids were napping and Andy was a work. I ened up having to put a bow at the top to cover the long piece that the star is on. I could have cut it, but I like it going to the ceiling. We haven't put out our outdoor lights yet. We really need to! My goal is to have a Griswold house. I don't think we will get there because Andy refuses to put lights on the roof! I don't know why we need a new roof anyways. I do have some light up trees that stay out year round and I got one of those battery powered wreaths, because seeing a cord hang would have really bothered me. Although they are not very bright.

This morning I took pictures for Christmas cards. I had to do lots of M&M bribing, but I got some really cute pictures. I had to hurry on the pictures so that I could get them at Winkflash for only .23 each!! I got way more cards than last year for half of what I paid!
These are not the pictures on the cards, but they were some of the cute ones from this mornings photo shoot.

Carter, his usual smiling self.

Cale, with a typical Cale like look on his face.

Here are some pictures from their first Christmas. This is one like our Christmas card pic that year. They are on the same pillow as above except with a blanket over it. I wanted to do santa hats like that again, but no way were they going to wear them.Their best picture with Santa. Last year they were screaming in the picture, so this year we are going to skip seeing Santa.Cale got so worn out seeing Santa. I think that this was the only time one of them fell asleep in a weird position.The screaming picture of 2006

Thanksgiving Road Trip

For Thanksgiving this year we decided to travel to Ohio to see Andy's family. I love going up there! I was really hoping for snow, but we only saw a few flurries. This is the second time we have drove up there with the boys. The first time they were 11 months old and the trip went great, but we drove over night and they slept the whole way. This time was a day trip and I was nervous about how this one would go since we have terrible vacation luck(Griswold vacations), but it went great!! We split the trip up and drove 6 hrs one day and then another 4-5 hrs the next day. The boys literally watched movies the entire way. Where was the DVD player when we were kids?! They did not sleep at all in the car, which was kinda nice because the first night at the hotel they were ready to go to bed at 7:30, so we all got a nice 12 hours of sleep.

When we got there we stayed with Andy's aunt and uncle and that was so great! For Thanksgiving the whole family ate in the church fellowship hall because there were 49 people there and that wasn't even everyone! I don't think I even have 49 people in my whole extended family. I absolutely love the big family thing. I always wanted to have 4 kids and then one day we would have huge family, but after having the twins I am seriously rethinking that one and Andy says no way! I really admire people with more than 2 kids because I don't know if I could do it. I always thought I could, but I am not so sure after actually having kids.

The boys did pretty good. They only fought over toys, which is pretty normal. They slept great and ate great. We really couldn't have asked for it to go any better. So far our best vacations have been up to Ohio, I am starting to feel like we should go more often and we would if it weren't a 12 hr drive.

On the way home we drove 9 hrs to Sparta and then stayed the night with Andy's brother and his family at the mountain house. We then all went Sunday morning to get Christmas trees. That was fun and the boys loved it! I must admit that the tree we got looked much better on the lot. I think we left it rolled up too long and hopefully the limbs will drop some more. I just decorated it yesterday and will have those pics up soon.

Weekend Update!

This past weekend Andy and I had a rarity, we had a kid free weekend! We had a party for a friend who turned the big 3-0 on Saturday and we didn't really want to take our wild children. I had asked my mom if she wanted to watch them and she took them for the whole weekend! We were so grateful!

After she said she would watch them we kept having all this good stuff happen. We got free tickets to the State/UNC Football game! I wish I had taken my camera to catch the Wolfpack's glorious victory! Then on Thursday we got free hockey tickets to see the Hurricanes! Not only was it the first hockey game we have been to in probably 9 years, but the seats were second row behind the glass and behind the penalty box! It was very cold at both events, but so much fun. I also forgot my camera for the hockey game too. I guess I was so excited about getting to do something fun without the kids for a change. The Hurricanes lost, but it was really fun and something I would love to do again. It really made we want basketball season to hurry up and start! There is a home game on Thursday against William and Mary and I am trying to talk Andy into going and taking the boys. Are we crazy?!

The boys had so much fun at Mawmaw and Papaw's that they did not even want to come home, but they didn't put up too much of a fuss. I am interested to see how tomorrow goes. Usually when they have been away from their toys for a few days they play quietly all day, but for some reason I don't think that is going to happen tomorrow.

I don't know if I have updated about my business in a while, so here it goes. I have recently started selling stuff on Etsy. It is like ebay except for handmade items and there is no bidding, just buying. You get a store with them for FREE, unlike ebay, and it is so much better. So, if anyone wants to make a purchase using paypal I can now except that through my Etsy store. Also, if there is something you want but you would rather have a different burp cloth or pacifier clip just let me know and I will switch it out for you with whatever you want! My store is http://www.ohsewcutedesigns.etsy.com/. Please check it out! I am working on some new products now. Some onesies that match the burp cloths, I am very close to perfecting those, and some super soft blankets. I am also starting to try and make the shopping cart covers, not sure how that is going to go, and some fleece stuff, like hats and scarves. I will update when and if I start to sell any of these new products on here and on my website http://www.ohsewcutedesigns.com/.

More October Pictures

I can't believe it is already November and only 2 weeks until Thanksgiving!!! Where did October go?! I am already getting excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas! Here are a few random pictures from the end of October that are cute.

This is the boys with their friend Ella at our church's fall festival.

The boys had school pictures a week and a half ago and their teacher took a picture of their class all dressed up. I am so looking forward to getting their pictures back! They are a lot more expensive than portrait innovations, but with me not being there they take excellent pictures. So now I save my money and only buy the school pictures that are made twice a year. The little girl with her arm on Cale calls both boys CaleCarter and today her grandma told me that she asked why there were two CaleCarters. So Cute!

Time is going way to fast! I put out the tent I bought for the beach when the boys were babies, we never used it at the beach so I decided to get my money's worth and let them play in it in the playroom. Within 30 minutes of having it out they managed to almost destroy it! The tent then went to time out for a few days and we have since not had any problems. The boys are drinking their "hot apple juice"(it is empty, they are only pretending). They have never had hot apple juice, but I think they were saying it because their cups are mugs like my hot coffee is in. I thought that was cute.
My dad is into old cars and the boys love them too, so my dad has two old pedal cars that the grandkids can play on. They boys love it although they don't understand the pedals.

Trick or Treating!!

Tonight we took the boys down the street to a pre-trick or treating party. They had so much fun! We took them down in the wagon, but they did not want to leave, so they would not get back in the wagon. There was a cozy coupe pick up truck there that they fought over. They also had a power wheels jeep that scared the boys (we sure are glad we decided not to buy two of those for Christmas)!

They went trick or treating for the very first time tonight. The first house we went trick or treating to the boys rang the door bell and when the man opened the door they barged right on in! You would never know they were related to Andy and I. They pretty much did this or tried to at most houses, but were very good at saying thank you and happy halloween. They would always say trick or treat as we were walking to the house. I don't think they caught on to the fact that you were suppose to say that before the candy. At one neighbor's house that we do actually know they did come right on in and sat down on the steps and started to pull out there candy showing it to the neighbors, who thankfully thought it was hilarious. When we got home they were so pooped! They wouldn't ride in the wagon, so there pumpkins with candy did. This pretty much wore them out! Which was great for Andy and I because they were asleep by 8:30 and they didn't get in bed until 8:15!

The boys insisted on helping Andy.

Their first house ever!!

Carter is having so much fun!! He loves getting all this candy, but he probably won't eat it. Cale won't look, he is very serious about helping daddy.