Monday, September 29, 2008

Adding To The List

Saturday morning I was sweeping off the carport and Jon and the children were inside in the study. I had the windows open since it was nice and cool outside so their sweet little voices were floating on the breeze. A little time passed and I noticed I hadn't heard those sweet voices in awhile but I just kept sweeping. More time went by and still no voices so I decided I'd better peek in the window, even though daddy was in there! Good thing I did because as soon as my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw bizarre foods girl sitting in front of the trash can smacking away on coffee grounds and coffee filter. Man she's starting that Bryant/Mozingo/Primitive Baptist preacher family/daughter thing off early! She at least smelled good for the rest of the day! I keep telling Jon that quiet = bad 99.999% of the time!

We had a wonderful date night, thanks for all the Happy Anniversary's and if you love Starbucks and you like pumpkin, you must try the pumpkin spice latte. I could have sat in Barnes&Noble all night just drinking those. Bye bye mocha frap but just until Fall's over!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Love, Marriage and Babies!

I say it often I know but my life is wonderful. I have two beautiful children and a sweet, gorgeous husband who loves me unconditionally. Jon and I will have been married for 5 whole years tomorrow! Beast. I am a few pounds lighter this year so hopefully when we go out on our date tomorrow evening I wont get any "Oh you poor thing" looks and no one will stop me to say "When are you due? What! 8 more weeks?! Are you sure there's not two in there?" Now didn't they know how offended I'd have been if there had only been one "in there"! If I had a scanner I would gladly share wedding and pre-wedding pictures but I don't (maybe next year!) so you will just have to be satisfied with a video clip of our offspring. I'm sure no one will mind!












Thursday, September 25, 2008

Time And Tide Wait For No Man

In one week, ONE WEEK people, my babies turn 1. How and when did that happen? I promise it was only last week that I was going to bed at 9 p.m. because I had to get up at 2 a.m. and then again at 5 a.m. and then my day started at 8 a.m. Only yesterday was my day CONSUMED with feeding and changing babies and washing all those bottles, BY HAND! The older I get and the more lovely my life becomes, time just seems to disappear faster and faster. When I was 15 an hour took forever to pass but now an hour passes before I can get comfortable in my recliner!
But good things come with change I know and my children are growing and learning every day. It is my life's joy to watch their little personalities develop every day and to see the new things they learn with each passing moment. Here are some things they are doing now:

Audrey can:

Successfully climb on top of the printer and play her daddy's guitar!

Say hello (well what sounds like it!) when the phone rings.

Call me mama!

Read books out loud!

Feed her brother puffs!

Drink from a sippy cup with out handles!

Understand NO and most of the time obey!

Drinks from the rinse cup in the bath tub and laugh hysterically about it!

She can also add bark and flowers to her list of bizarre foods!

And she has 5 teeth now!



James can:

Say uh-oh when his sister falls over!

Eat any and everything with out any teeth!

Crawl as fast as his sister!

Eat a biter biscuit in record time!

Successfully crawl down the step down in the kitchen by himself with out toppling on his face!

Call me mananna!

Read books out loud!

Completely ignore me when I say NO!

Drink from a cup with no handles!

Talk louder when the vacuum is running!

Take his sister's pappy!



The one thing I am most proud of is how well they play together and how much they love each other. In the mornings and after naps they get so excited when one sees the other.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Two Things

"And I call them Thing One and Thing Two.
These Things will not bite you.
They want to have fun."
Then, out of the box came Thing Two and
Thing One! And they ran to us fast. They said
"How do you do? Would you like to shake hands
with Thing One and Thing Two?"

And Jon and I did not know what to do.
So we shook hands with Thing One and
Thing Two. We shook their two hands.
But our fish said, "No! No! Those Things
should not be in this house! Make them go!

"Have no fear, little fish," said the
Cat in the Hat. "These Things are good Things."
"They are tame. Oh, so tame!
They havecome here to play.
They will give you some fun
on this day."

Then those Things ran about with big
bumps, jumps and kicks and with
hops and big thumps and all kinds
of bad tricks.


















Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Seasons

Slowly but surely we are getting over our "disease" around here. Audrey has calmed down a bit and James is not quite as sensitive! Their bumps haven't spread anywhere else and are looking much, much better. I only gave them Benadryl before their afternoon nap yesterday instead of once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Mainly because Audrey on Benadryl during the day(without having a chance to sleep it off first) is like a crack addict trying to come clean! She was insanely hyper and I didn't think James could handle it two days in a row!Yesterday we went outside for a couple of hours and they really enjoyed it. Thanks to the gnats, the ridiculous heat and of late, the love bugs, we haven't ventured out in a while so it was a nice change of scenery. These last few days have been nice and cool around here in the mornings and you can feel Fall in the air. I love the change of seasons. God certainly was gracious to give us different seasons, wasn't He?
James used to be scared of the grass but not any more. I can only hope that he feels the same way about the sand at the beach next year as he feels about the grass now! He crawled a long way on the hard, prickly grass just to get to a blue can of motor oil! With the camo and the love for motor oil I think we are well on our way to raising a good old Georgia boy! (sorry if that offends you guys in Mississippi and Louisiana but tis what it tis!)





Finally found something that Audrey wont do. Crawl on the grass.













Sunday, September 21, 2008

Could you please pass the Benadryl?

It's official, well official from Dr. Mom that is and the fact that my sister called this week to tell me Matthew has it and since we were with them just last weekend............the twins have handfootmouth disease. I know it sounds bad. They really should not use the word disease if it's not really a disease. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's a viral infection that produces little red bumps that can itch or sometimes be sore and the most common places for them to appear are your hands, feet and mouth. (Hence the name) My little uns though have them on their booty, legs and hands. Late in the week I started noticing these little bumps when I would change their diapers and even though I slathered the diaper cream on religiously, they never went away. Last night I noticed James had a few bumps on his feet and this morning they practically cover the back of his legs. And he has a few on his hands. Audrey's actually look better on her booty area but she does have a few on her feet and legs. I haven't found any in their mouth yet! It cannot be treated with antibiotics (not that mine could take them anyway) so all I can do is give them Tylenol and a little Benadryl to help in case the bumps itch. Hooray! Benadryl during the day! This means extra long naps and more quiet time for dear old mom to recharge her "patience"! And I need the extra quiet time, trust me. Today is Sunday so dear old dad is out "pulling the plow" on his own which means it's just like any day of the week around here. Except with extremely irritable youngins! Poor babies, I know they don't feel well and can't help it but did I mention that they are irritable? Audrey is overly aggressive and excessively whiny which means she plows through any and everything in her way with extreme force and really pitches a fit when things don't go her way. James is overly sensitive and can't be more than 2 inches away from me at all times. And Audrey has been so crazy today, the minute she comes his way he starts swatting at her and covering his eyes.


I am thanking God today though that He has blessed me with a sense of humor even in the most challenging circumstances! I can't help but laugh at James who for 1 minute or so forgets that he must be touching me to feel okay and ventures off to play in toy land. All of a sudden he sees me and realizes he's not touching me and his world starts to crumble. Or he could be really enjoying himself playing with the toys hanging off the exercauser until his overly exuberant sister bumps into, him knocking his pappy out to which she grabs, sticks in her mouth and scurries away leaving him pappless and completely crushed. Bless his heart he is having the toughest time today.

I can't help but laugh at Audrey who is happy as a lark until she sees her brother in my lap and starts having jealousy issues which lands two whinny babies in my lap. (At least she's not trying to push James out of my lap yet!) She has tumbled on her face a million times already today (I'm attributing her extra clumsiness to the Benadryl) and barely makes a peep. But let James be playing with a toy she wants and the tears start flowing like a stream!

They are still just as precious to me today as they were yesterday but today is just one of those days where you eat all the chocolate you can find, drink absurd amounts of Dr. Pepper and continuously feel the urge to run outside and scream!!!

Friday, September 19, 2008

We had such a great time at my sister's last weekend. Even though we ran around half crazy most of the time, the kids really had fun playing together. Hannah and Audrey played in Hannah's room one morning for a long time and were really quiet. I went to check on them and found Adurey all dressed up with most of Hannah's princess items! While James and Matthew stayed glued to the t.v. watching Mickey Mouse!



Oooohhh we gotta watch these two! She's got that look in her again!

In their Sunday best! Okay mom, one more picture.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Boys can do stuff too!

Last week I put James down in the middle of the floor, walked out for 2 seconds and came back to find him standing at their table! I was so proud of him. Now he hasn't done it since then but he proved he CAN do it! And notice his tip toes and how far back his legs are! But look at that proud smile on his little face! You can be sure he got lots of hugs and kisses for that move!


He saw some puffs that somehow missed his mouth during his snack and knew he shouldn't let them go to waste! Once he got in, he sat and ate how ever many were down there (hope it was all puffs!) and then made his way out like it was no big thing. Audrey hasn't even figured out that trick yet. Score one for James!

I was telling someone just this morning how he sits up on his knees instead of his rear and I believe it is because his head is so big! He struggles all the time keeping his balance with that big old noggin. Bless his heart. He has about 4 blue/black marks on his forehead from where he topples over because he can't get his balance. I can only hope he eventually grows out of this. I don't think they will let you play football if you keep falling on your head. Wait a minute, maybe the big head will be my ticket OUT of that one and on to something a bit safer that his daddy likes!!




Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Bizarre Foods Girl

Ever watched Andrew Zimmern on the Travel channel? You know, bizarre foods guy? Well Jon and I luv to watch it at night after the kids have gone to bed. And apparently Audrey has been sneaking out of her crib at night and peeking around the corner into the living room to watch bizarre foods guy with us. Why, you wonder? Here is a short list of what Audrey has been chomping on lately:
1. SPIDERS
2. FLYING ROACHES
3. LOVE BUGS
Don't you know how much I love to look down at my daughter and have her give me a big old toothy grin only to see little black legs hanging off those pretty little lips? I shutter to think at what she has eaten with out me knowing. This morning while we were out walking, I stopped the stroller and got down next to them to talk about what we were seeing. Much to my dismay Audrey had little black legs hanging off her lips so I stuck my finger in her mouth and pulled out a love bug. Since love bugs are so "loving" I knew its mate was still in there. And it was!

Audrey Grace is one little fire ball of energy! Sis. Bethany Ulmer described her exactly when she said "She just has so much fun!" and she does! Everything Audrey does (90% of the time) is done with a huge smile on her face and lots of little giggles. Yes, she torments her brother but bless her heart she doesn't know she's doing it. Well 95% of the time she doesn't know!


Monday, September 15, 2008

Father of The Bride, Part III

This weekend I went home to be in the wedding of my "little sister" Shannon Howell. I can remember as if it were yesterday sitting on the floor of her room watching Father of the Bride parts I & II and re-winding certain parts over and over till our sides ached from laughing so hard! My sister and I grew up with Shannon and her sister Amy. My sister was 8 and I was 4 when we moved to Danville. Amy was 2 and Shannon not quite 1. (Old Bubba wasn't even around yet which is hard to imagine!) So for the past 22 years (wow 22 years?!) we have shared tons of hilarious memories with a few tears added in and oh probably 100 boyfriends or so! My sister started the wedding hoopla between the 4 of us 7 years ago and now Shannon has ended it. I lost it when the doors opened and Shannon walked down the aisle. She was beautiful.

We had a luncheon for Shannon on Friday morning (more about that in another post) and my son (being the only male there) was a huge hit! He's already a ladies man and can't even walk yet! The day of the wedding was a long one, just like any other wedding, but we had a good time! We should of had a jar for us to put pennies in every time one of our straps popped off or someone needed their bow re-tied. We could have paid for Shannon and Brett's tank of gas to their honeymoon destination with those pennies! The wedding was beautiful and I am so thankful that I got to be there and to be a part of it! Going home always gets me real homesick and reminds how much I miss everyone I grew up with. But I am thankful for the times I do get to see everyone, even if they are few and far between.

I had so many good pictures I decided to make a video instead of spreading them out over a few posts. But while going through the pictures I realized I didn't get any of the groom (sorry Brett!)or any of the bride and groom after the wedding. Oh well, hopefully somebody somewhere took some and will be kind enough to send 'em my way!



Thursday, September 11, 2008

Never to be Forgotten

Every year on this day I spend the morning hours of 8 to about 10 glued to the television. With a constant stream of tears running down my face I watch all the footage that the news channels broadcast of the horrific acts that we, as a nation, witnessed on that infamous day. It's my way of paying tribute to all those who lost their lives that day. It never gets any easier. I always get that same gut wrenching feeling in the pit of my stomach. Memories come flooding back to me as I remember how scary it was to know MY country was under attack. I'll never forget how horrible it was to watch all those innocent people running for their lives and seeing the look of shear terror on their smutty faces. And then watching the towers fall and imagining all of the lives being lost at that moment. I'll never forget the sinking feeling I had as I learned of the attack on the Pentagon and then of United Flight 93 going down in that Pennsylvania Field. I didn't loose a loved one on that day. I wasn't directly affected by the attacks. But my neighbors were and my heart will always grieve for them. I have a cousin and a step brother who are currently serving in our military. I pray for them to be kept safe and try to let them know when I speak with them how thankful I am to them for risking their lives to keep me and my family safe. I am so proud of them! When Jon sees one of our service men or woman out and about, he always makes a point to go up to them and personally thank them and shake their hand.It was a time of uncertainty and unrest in our free country. My daddy called a prayer meeting at Cool Springs that night and there were so many people there. We were all searching for answers and comfort that night. I remember sitting in the pew sobbing actually wondering if this was going to be one of the last times I could sit in this place safely. It was also a time of great patriotism throughout the land. Every where I looked I could see those beautiful red, white, and blue colors streaming from somewhere. I even had a little flag taped to the antenna of my car and proudly drove many a mile with it flapping in the wind. I had a flag on my front porch and a couple in my house. For weeks I would sob every time Lee Greenwood and Alan Jackson came over the radio singing their Patriotic songs which was at least once a day. Those country music station dj's are so patriotic. One out of Macon still plays the National Anthem every day at 12:00 p.m. sharp! This morning while watching my beloved FOX news, one of the commentators talked about how patriotic every one was in those days and months after 9/11. Then he brought up the fact that most people have lost that "patriotic fire" we had for our country after 9/11. He's right and I am guilty. I feel ashamed that I no longer have any American flag of any sort on my vehicle. Ashamed that I don't have one flying from my front porch or displayed in my house somewhere. I love my country greatly and am so blessed and so proud to be an American. I'm going to Wal-Mart TODAY to buy some flags and I am going to hang them proudly where I can see them every day and always be reminded. Hope you will be inspired to do the same!

We have some 40 days left until we go to the polls and vote on probably the most crucial election our nation has ever been faced with. I wont speak everything that's on my mind about the issue because since your reading my blog there is a 99.999% chance that you know what I mean and share my opinions. But I will say let us all be in constant prayer that our next president will be a praying, God-honoring, God-fearing, stable minded man who will seek God's guidance and that the PEOPLE of The United States of America will do the same.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Do I know You?

Every mom (or mom to be) faces the challenges of having to "grin and bear it" through some of the rude and annoying comments that complete strangers feel compelled to make. Especially when you have a phenomena like twins. Throughout my pregnancy I was constantly hearing "Your so big, are you sure you're not having twins?" To which I happily replied "Well they tell me I am"! I loved seeing the shocked look on their faces when I would say that. They weren't expecting me to actually be having twins, it was like they just enjoyed telling me how big I was. Like I didn't know or something! Now a days I have to endure comments like:

"Oh she needs to be in the front (of the stroller) she picks on her brother too bad. Do you EVER switch them up?"

"Mama, don't forget about the other one" (rgggghhhh)

"Looks like Mama feeds you the most, yes she does"

"Are they little girls or little boys?" (Come on people, one is in PINK and the other in BLUE)

Someone asked me just yesterday if they were the same age. "Yes" I said "They are twins". Oh my, I thought the woman was going to ask me if I was sure that they were twins from the shocked look on her face and the exasperating noise that came out of her mouth! "Really?" she said "but he's so much bigger than her".
Now, I know James is bigger than Audrey but is he really THAT much bigger?


I do get some very nice and pleasant comments though. People are always telling me how beautiful my children are and what good babies they are. We get lots of "Oh look how cute she is pulling his hair like that!" and "Oh I bet you have a lot of fun with these two!" So it's not all bad but seriously sometimes you have to wonder what in the world some people are thinking!
























Friday, September 5, 2008

Little Einstein's

So my children are geniuses but I didn't really have to tell you that now did I?
Night before last I fixed mashed potatoes with our supper and spooned a big helping onto their trays, stuck a spoon in it and sat down to eat. Next thing I know my darlings have both taken their spoons out of the mashed potatoes and with tongues hanging out put it in their mouths. I don't think I've ever been more proud of them than at that moment. I've never given them a spoon to feed themselves with before and they still knew exactly what to do with it. Geniuses I tell ya! Now, it certainly was not a messless(is that even a word?!) meal and a few times the spoon went into other places like an ear or an eye instead of the mouth but still. Maybe it is not that exciting for you but for some reason I was more excited about the spoon incident than the crawling!


She got stuck trying to escape from the living room!




Every time I take his picture now he makes this face first!


Notice what or rather WHO she is stepping on!


Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Our brave little solider

On Sunday evening we had our first "at home medical emergency". I will spare everyone the details as I am sure that the grandmothers would rather not know!
Long story short: James has to have a band-aid on his finger. He is fine but his mama and daddy are still recovering! It took us 3 times and probably 20 band aids before we could finally get something on him that would stick.(FYI: Just go ahead and buy the $4 box of band aids, one day it will be worth it!)Thankfully his "incident" happened just before bed time so as soon as we got some band aids on, we fed him and put him to bed. The next day he kept putting his hand in his mouth and getting the band aid off so I had to put a sock over it. Well of course he found a way to get that off so we safety pinned the sock to the sleeve of his p.j.'s and I took off to Wal-Mart for some heavy duty band aids and we now have any thing you could ever need in a 1st aid kinda way in our bathroom closet! Watching him play and try to eat with that sock over his little hand made me short of breath every time. He was so pitiful. Not because he was crying but because he was so brave. He didn't fuss about not being able to use that hand, he learned that he couldn't so he was eating and drinking with one hand. Jon said he reminded him of a civil war solider that had had his hand blown off and was left with just a nubbin!
Yesterday when Jon got home he took the band aid off to let his finger air out and the poor little buddy was going around gently poking things with that finger to see if it still hurt! We went out side last night and Jon put James up on his shoulders. James usually grips Jon's hair with both hands but Jon said this time he only felt the left hand and two fingers from the right hand. (Are you crying yet?!)

Today he is going around with that finger poked out like he is pointing at things. He did eat with it this morning at breakfast so I think it is defiantly on its way to being all mended! Just for the record his little sister has shown NO mercy for him during this time of turmoil. She continues to crawl on him, push him down and take his pappy and whatever toy he is playing with at the moment. Now I know she has no idea what has happened to her bubby and is just carrying on as usual. But it makes it a little hard to watch knowing he has a boo-boo so he has gotten picked up quite a few times after she gets finished with him! Bless her little heart, she's like a bulldozer!
Daddy gets all the credit for tending to our son in his time of need in a calm and collected manner! Dad's are good in a pinch! Now I didn't go all crazy and run around like a chicken with myhead cut off but I was certainly glad Jon was there and I will admit I need to work on my cool and collected mom skills!