Saturday, December 20, 2008

Merry Christmas

I wanted to post one last time before Christmas and share all the good pictures I got of them in their Christmas best. Two days in a row I tried to get a Christmas card worthy shot but some body didn't want to cooperate, at least not at the same time any way! Had anyone drove by and seen the ridiculous things I was doing trying to get James to just look my way and Audrey to flash that smile, I'd never be able to show my face in public again! Yup, I'm a goober!! Even though I didn't get any card worthy shots, I did get some good ones. We are heading up to my sister and brother-in-law's tomorrow. My dad and Nelda will be there Monday. Mom and Pop are already there, as well as the rest of my dear old fam! We are having a party Monday night,(can't wait, hope everyone can come!) finishing Christmas shopping on Tuesday (by the way Bets!) Christmas with my mom and grandfather on Wednesday and then Christmas Day at my sister's house. And on Friday my American-living-in-Brazil-friend and her hubby are coming to see us(I hope)! And somewhere in the middle of all that we want to squeeze in taking the kids to the Ronald McDonald house and the hospital where they were born AND take all the kids to see the Christmas light house. Then the next week we will be off to Hattiesburg for the New Year's meeting. Can't wait y'all!!!But uh....... Sounds like we will be busy. Quite the contrast from last year! I can hardly believe another year has passed. Oh how thankful we are for our children's health and well being. They will always be our little miracles bringing constant joy and sunshine into our lives!









We wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. From our family to yours!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Watch out daddy's girl.......

'cause mama's boy is catching up! Yesterday I asked James to give me kisses and he leaned in and licked my mouth. He's a little fresh I know but still, it was a kiss! His first kiss mind you! I sure wish his daddy had been here to see it. But now we will forever be able to embarrass our children by reminding them that their first kisses belong to mama and daddy! Oh that's gonna be fun!!! Yesterday James also showed off his new skill of climbing on and off his car all by himself with out toppling over. We are growing up around here y'all. It's exciting and fun and sad, all at the same time. James has 4 teeth on top and 2 on bottom; Audrey has 4 on top and 4 on bottom and hardly crawls any more. She's gotten real good at turning corners this week! James watches her very intently at times and you can tell his wheels are turning thinking "Now how can I do that?" He is definitely the studious one, figuring out how things work. Yup, he's a Mizell. Or maybe it's just all that boy in him.
My baby boy also loves to read, he's just not as vocal about it as Audrey. He will sit quietly, turning pages and usually doesn't ask for me to read to him. He seems to wait for his daddy to get home for that! His favorite book is Arthur Goes to School which is an older kids book. His daddy told him the other night he can get AR points for reading it! The only thing loud about James is when he gets upset. Whether he is mad or sad, the kid can throw down!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Daddy's girl

Last night I saw my husband grow about 10 feet tall. Audrey was sitting in my lap reading(as she has been doing constantly for the last 2 weeks)and Jon leaned down and said to her "give daddy kisses". As we watched in shock and disbelief, she lifted her little chin and opened her mouth to gave her daddy a kiss!!! Oh, if only I'd had my camera to catch that precious moment and the beaming look on my husbands face. He got her to do it 3 more times so it wasn't a fluke, she knew what she was doing! Those are the moments that really make life count!!
As I said before, Audrey has been obsessed with reading lately. So much so that she reads while she snacks and last night I had to let her take a book to bed with her. She had a kung-foo grip on that thing! So all you family out there, be prepared to read, read, read and read some more to my little peach over Christmas Holidays!!!! I'm not sure how she got back there, but she got stuck

Looking at the puppy


Santa and Mrs. Clause










Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Move over Rudolph!

My mom came for the weekend and stayed till yesterday so I am just chillin out today. She washed and folded and put away all the clothes, cooked enough food for us to have lunch AND supper until we leave for my sister's on Sunday, and a whole hodge podge of other little but important things! I got most of my Christmas shopping done, bought some major things for our new house, finalized ALL the paint colors for the new house, had a security system installed, got estimates on flooring, wiped down all the kitchen cabinets in the new house, and even managed a date with my dear husband some where in the middle of all that! Is Christmas Eve really just a week away? Doesn't seem possible. But I think Santa's reindeer are ready to fly!Uncle Frank was in the area and came to visit one day last week. James and Audrey stayed in his lap most of the time listening to him read stories. The rest of the time Audrey was showing him how good she can walk and they both sowed him how to dance to the reindeer! It was precious and Audrey followed him to the door when he was leaving and wanted him to pick her up. It was obvious they didn't want him to leave! You know he loved that!

When we were at my cousin's a few weeks ago, they stood at those doors for 30 minutes watching their cousins play. It was toooooo cold for them to go out so the boys brought their puppy up to the windows so James and Audrey could see him. They went nuts, banging on the windows and laughing at the dog. It was great! Now what you've all been waiting so patiently for...........

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Somebody stop 'em!!!

Thing one and Thing two are on the prowl these days. Nothing is sacred any more. If you come visit us, don't wear your nice clothes. If you baby sit them, put all your valuables away! Seriously folks, having twin infants was a breeze compared to 14 month olders. If you don't lock it, put it up (and I mean waaaayyy up) hide it or stuff it some where, they will find it. Thank heavens they are not destroyers, just huge mess makers. Wait. I take that back; this morning they some how got ahold of a Christmas card, ripped it to pieces and then ate most of those pieces! All eyes must be on them at all times and if my eyes can't be on them, I have to have my hearing aids turned up to extra sensitive so that I can detect any "wrong doing current" going on in the next room. Boy howdy what am I gonna do in a bigger house?Not only are they into everything, they are doing new things almost every minute of the day! This week James has taken the word "twin" to heart and is copying everything that Audrey does. I guess he got tired of watching her have all the fun! He learned that backing down the step- down is the painless way to go! He can walk around what ever he is pulled up on now and he has 6 teeth; 4 on top and 2 on bottom. Audrey plays pee-pie (no idea how to spell that one) can walk pretty much any where she goes now and can climb on top of the leap frog table. She is still the funniest little bird and unfortunately for her, watching her is like watching home videos of myself when I was little. She screams if James tries to take something away from her, she gets so frustrated when she is trying to get somewhere and can't. Yesterday we were outside and she kept tipping over when she'd try to walk. She'd get so mad and kick those legs and screech, but she kept trying till she made it. One time she had fallen over like 5 times while trying to walk and decided that she could get there easier by backing up. She is so funny! She did that in church a few Sunday's ago. She was trying to get out in the aisle and my leg was blocking her. She figured that her head couldn't fit under my leg so she turned around and scooted feet first into the aisle! She's definitlythe mischievous one of the two!We are trying to learn to eat off plates.......................
it's not going so well!!!

Monday, December 8, 2008

More pictures from the country

This is my favorite picture from Thanksgiving. Look at that little bitty face looking up at her Uncle Will. Nothing much sweeter! This car was just a little too big for bubba!
Sydney is a good high chair!



These two are into..........


everything these days!






Friday, December 5, 2008

Christmas Parade

In a desperate attempt to get myself into the Christmas spirit, we all went to the Christmas parade last night in town. Our new house is about 2 blocks from where the parade route was starting so I met up with Jon and some of our friends about an hour before the big event! A good friend of ours brought supper from Zaxby's and we had a "picnic" on our insulation, wall paper covered deck!(still in the tearing out stage!) James didn't move or make a peep for about 20 minutes while he sat on the table and ate Lynn's french fries and chicken strips. That kid and food! The picture below is Audrey before we left for the parade. I had put their hats on and as always James immediately took his off. Audrey is going through this phase of liking to put things on her head and I reckon she figured 2 hats are better than 1!
The weather was perfect last night which I am thankful for since Audrey's been fighting ear infections. I was a little concerned that James would be scared of the marching bands again(like he was at mule day) but he did great. He would clap and wave and start dancing when they'd come by! And he was very, very interested this time in all the fire trucks and floats and pretty girls handing out candy!Audrey didn't get as excited as her brother but it was their bed time and she had all her fun before the parade started walking up and down the side walk holding on to the fence. She can take about 10 steps by her self now before falling on her little booty! Poor child looked like she was in her jammies last night since the only shoes she will keep on her feet are house slippers and her coat came down past her knees! At least she was warm and comfortable!


Elizabeth, Audrey, Bradly and James waiting for the parade to begin!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Spreading the Christmas cheer

After their doctor's appointment on Monday, I had to stop at Wal-Mart to fill Audrey's prescription and of course there was an hour long wait. So we strolled through the Christmas section and when Audrey saw the big blow up Santa's and Frosty's she had a fit. I opted for a small reindeer that makes noise. What was I thinking? But it kept them happy the 2 hours we were in Wal-Mart. Every time they would start to fuss I'd just turn rudolph on and they would start dancing and clapping and laughing. Everyone that passed us while that thing was playing got the biggest kick out of the way they reacted to it. Hope y'all will too!


Monday, December 1, 2008

Oh Good Grief Charlie Brown!

First off I want to say what a wonderful Thanksgiving we had in the country with the Mozingo/McGee family! It was a long trip but well worth it and the children did pretty good most of the way there and back. It was wonderful to see everyone and there were so many who had never seen the twins so it was a real treat to be there. I certainly did not get worn out keeping track of them during the day, that's for sure! There were many, many helping hands and a few times I actually had to go "find" my babies!

So, on to the good grief part. Tuesday before we left, a rash appeared on James chest and back. I called the doctor's office and the nurse assured me that it was either a side effect from the amoxicilian or the strep rash which is quite common and not to worry. It would be fine. I took her word for it and we packed up and left early Wednesday morning. By Friday the rash was gone from his chest and back but it was all over his arms, face and legs. It looked horrible, just horrible and it was so hard to look at because you could only imagine how awful it felt. But he never acted as though it itched; the only time he had trouble was at night. We had 3 LONG, sleepless nights in Mississippi due to the fact that I was so paranoid that he would catch a chill and get sick all over again(we were staying in an old, country house) I dressed him in warm, snuggly pj's which now I realize only made it worse. Hind sight's 20/20 though, right?

I called 1st thing this morning and got them both an appointment at 10:45. Great. I had plenty of time to get us ready. I actually had time to spare and was thinking what a good job I was doing as I was strapping James in his seat. That feeling quickly disappeared as I went to open the door to the house and get Ms. Audrey only to find that my one year old daughter had LOCKED ME OUT!!!!!! Yes. You read that correctly. How did that happen you ask? Weeelllll, we live in a 1940's farm house and it has an old timey latch that you can flip over and it "bolts" the door shut. Apparently my daughter knows how to flip it over. Surprise!! As you can imagine I almost hit panic mode with my child being locked inside the house and all. And because you cannot get the door open when that latch is flipped unless you break the door down and can't y'all see me breaking a metal door down?! Thank the good Lord that my land lord was out here piddling around on the tractor. I ran out and told him that my daughter had locked me out and he jumped off the tractor and ran around the house till he found a window that was open. He popped the screen out and crawled through to rescue my little girl. I could see her the whole time and she was only in there for about 5 minutes but it was still a little nerve racking. I learned a valuable lesson this morning: Never, ever underestimate a child, especially one of ours!! I am just so thankful that I wasn't out here alone this morning and that nothing bad happened to my baby. Sheesh. Talk about talking a few years off your life.

Back to James and the rash. The doctor took one look at it and said "Oh that's definitely an allergic reaction. Let's take him off that medicine today." She told me I could give him benadryl which I have been doing since we got home and he's slept peacefully both nights! She also said it looks like he is over the strep so he wont need a different antibiotic. Audrey was there for a check up on her ears and she has another ear infection. So we are on a different antibiotic now, hoping this will clear it all up. I'm afeared that she'll have to have tubes put in, just like her dear, sweet mother! Only time will tell.
Oh and Audrey pooped in the tub tonight, again. This makes #3 for her!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Happy Birday!

Today is my sweetie pie's birthday and he is........don't worry honey, I won't tell them how old you are.......just that you were born on Thanksgiving day in 1981! I thought the fam would enjoy a walk down memory lane! So it looks like our little familia will be all well for our trip out to Mississippi for Thanksgiving. James is recuperating just fine; he likes to sleep A LOT when he is sick which is a-okay by me! Audrey is back in full force. She is always 100% and that steroid made her 300%. Wowza. For real y'all. For 2 days straight the child did nothing but scream, at the top of her lungs. Her reasons for screaming: just because she could, her brother tried to take her toy away, her brother looked at her, her brother started crawling in her direction, I told her no-no, or I took something away from her. Her reaction to everything (good or bad) was to scream. By Sunday James and I had had enough. Poor baby looked at me one time and put his hands up to his face and started crying! But thank goodness that is over with and she is back to her "normal" full force self!

James was the sweetest sick baby ever. He barely made a peep (probably because his throat was sore) and he just sat still watching t.v. most of the day. I have to admit that last week my kids watched an awful lot of that "idiot box" of ours but I'll make up for that these next 4 days since there is no television where we are a going tomorrow!
You know, when you are around someone all day every day it is difficult to see the changes that they make in appearance over time. But James and Audrey have gotten so big lately I can definitely see their changes this time. When we went to the doctor the first time last week, they weighed Audrey and she was almost 22 lbs. James must be the same or a little more so.......looks like they will get to ride forward facing for this trip! Never thought I'd see the day but here it is. Next thing I know they will be out of the car seat and I think I'll have to shed a few tears over that one. Audrey is taking more and more steps by her self and James has started walking around things. That is when he remembers to get off his tippy toes! Audrey will actually sit still for a story now and James is talking up a storm; I think he is going to have his mama's lisp. Poor baby.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Jimminy Cricket

So somebody is feeling better! Dear, sweet Audge is pretty much back to normal. We got lots of smiles and giggles yesterday which was a welcome sight! She is constantly at my feet these days, like a little puppy dog. Always wanting to be picked up and if I don't pick her up right away, she throws her little face down on the floor (very dramatically I might add!) and cries ever so pitifully till I pick her up! She has learned how to crawl on top of things and as soon as her little ear gets back on track, I know she will take off walking like she's been doing it all along. Oh won't that be fun! About 5 yesterday evening James crawled into the kitchen where I was washing dishes(I waste sooooo much time washing dishes!) and started crying. Then he started shivering and his bottom lip was quivering. I had been waiting all day for this since he didn't want breakfast, only ate a few bites at lunch and ate only 1 of 2 cookies for his snack. If James turns down food, you know something is about to break loose! I took his temp and it was 101 so I gave him Tylenol and we wrapped up in a blanket on the floor. We sat there for about an hour(he eventually quit shivering)all the while Audrey Grace is sprawled out on the blanket in between my legs, like she is in the picture below. She's started doing that this week. I know it's because she just gets tired of trying to hold her head up with out falling over and sometimes she has to give in to the dizziness. But I think she's grown to like sprawling out in the middle of the floor just when ever!


We already had a doctor's appointment for Audrey this morning to check her ears so I was glad of that. Dr. Walker said her ear looked good and to just finish her meds and she should be fine. But he wants to see her back in 2 weeks. Jamsie was another story. He took a swab for strep but the test came back negative. I was so relieved and he sent us on our way. As I was loading them in the car though the nurse came running out and said they had looked at the test again and this time it was positive. Oh boy! My week just keeps getting better and better. At this rate I'll be good and sick on Thanksgiving.

I never let them play in the fridge, even though every time the door opens they pop outta no where to try and get in. Yesterday I was tired of telling them no so while I was cleaning it out I just let them have at it. They enjoyed and I had fun watching!
My poor baby boy. He's so pitiful. He doesn't really whine, he just sits there with these huge, sad puppy dog eyes. We caught it early thank goodness so hopefully he will be feeling much better by Monday AND Dr. Walker said he felt like a secondary infection was on it's way(like a ear infection) for James and this med will take care of that before it happens! He slept all night last night and I hope he can continue to do so; rest is so good for the sickly. I asked how likely it is that Audrey will get it and the nurse said very unlikely since the antibiotic she is on already is one of the two used to treat strep. Hallelujah! As the nurse was walking back into the building she called over her shoulder "Hope you can stay well!" Yeah, me too but seeing how both kiddos are constantly trying to stick their fingers in my mouth, always manage to cough or sneeze directly in my face and since all I've done all week is wipe snotty noses, I highly doubt it. But here's hoping!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Doctor, Doctor!!!!

I ended my week last week totally exhausted from working 2 1/2 days straight on our house.
I started my week this week with 2 sick babies. James has gotten better as the days have passed. Audrey is another story. Saturday morning they both woke up with runny noses but they seemed to feel pretty good. By Sunday afternoon Audrey would just sit in your lap and not want to move. Sunday night me and her were up every 2 hours. She was pitiful; she kept grabbing at her ear and she just could not get comfortable, except when I was holding her! I called the doctor Monday morning but they couldn't fit us in but we could come first thing Tuesday morning. A little frusturating but whatever.
Poor Audge would just crawl around whimpering and laying her head down where ever she felt like it. I didn't get one smile or laugh out of her all day which was hard to watch. Monday night was more of the same. Up every couple hours. Oh and Jon came in sick Monday but he got some medicine pronto and is all better today. Thank goodness!
Yesterday the 3 of us went to the doc in the freeeezing cold and found out that my poor baby girl's ear drum ruptured. When the doctor told me that, it took everything I had not to burst into tears. I felt horrible for her. Mine ruptured when I was in high school and I well remember the horrible pain and uncomfortableness that came with it. Atleast I could tell my mama what was wrong. My baby couldn't. (Oh the guilt we mothers are plagued with) She was given 3 different kinds of meds:a steroid for her barking cough, ear drops to numb the pain from her ruptured ear drum, and an antibiotic for her nasty cold. I got the first round in her as soon as we got home (it is so hard to have to put those drops in because her little ear hurts so bad, even to the touch and I have to do it twice a day) and by bed time I could tell a HUGE difference in the way she felt. And the angel was able to sleep all night and woke up feeling much better. She is still sick mind you; her nose is still running and she still whines some but over all she is on the road to a full recovery! Thank you God!
I know, I know. It's not even December yet and my kids are wearing santa hats and Christmas pj's. The hat is just to stinkin cute to wait 2 more weeks and the Christmas pj's are the snugliest that they have and it was soooo cold here last night.
So you're probably wondering how James is and what the doctor said about him and well, he was licking the doctor's hand while she was listening to his chest so I think he's gonna be just fine! Seriously though, she said to just keep on with the saline and using the humidifier at night. She didn't prescribe any medication.
By the way, keeping their germs to themselves is quite the challenge let me tell ya. They love to swap pappies and juice cups. And their new favorite activity is to stick their pointer finger in the other's mouth. They think it's funny for some reason!