Saturday, March 31, 2012

what did you just say?

We have been so busy lately, that I keep forgetting to write in the girls books about all their new milestones.  Today, Harly said a bad word!  She was helping me clean their high chairs and was trying to sit in it.  I had it flipped over, she was trying to fix it and sit in it, this is what it sounded like, "mommy, sh*t chair.  Mommy sh*t chair, MOMMY SH*T CHAIR!  uh oh!  what she was trying to say was mommy sit in chair.  That is not what it sounds like!  So all day we have been practicing the right way to say it, but so far it is not working!

They are all about singing their abc's and it is so cute!  They can say c, efg, p, s, v, and z.  O I just love it and will get a video posted of it so I can compare it in about a month when they can say it all!  I have one video but they are in the bathtub and I would rather not post that one!

They are getting good with their numbers! We pretty much have them all down, now it is just putting them in the right place.  Sometimes its 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 8, 10!

They repeat everything you say.  My new all day line is " sit down, please." They have this fascination with standing on the couch.  That is now Zoey's favorite line to Harly.  "Sit DOWN, sissy."  she emphasizes down!

Looking in the mirror, they still think it is sissy.  It is going to be so exciting the day they realize it is not sissy, it is them!
they could read books all day!

One of my favorite pics, they still sleep like this when they are in our bed, always touching and cuddling with each other!

One another note, we just got our twins day packet and I am so bummed we are not going to be able to make it.  One thing Ian and I have talked about was this.  We made a promise that no matter where we live, we will always go to twins day.  The girls have not missed one since they were born, this will be the first (but I can't pass up the beach!)  The good thing about this is the girls don't understand it yet and won't remember it.  We will do our best as they get older and start to understand to make sure to keep twins day weekend free for them to attend!

Monday, March 26, 2012

1st embarassing moment!

The girls decided today was the day they were going to embarass mommy in public for the first time EVER.  They have never given me problems in public and not to brag about my kids, but they are their father, "happy go lucky, laid back kids."  They really never give me a hard time when we are out.  Today was a different story.

I am lucky that is was not in front of strangers, but it was in front of all our baby and mommy play group friends.  Today was our Easter party.  I knew that today was probably going to be a rough day.  They both woke up crying, which they rarely do.  We also had a lot of showings over the weekend that took place at naptime.  So they didn't really have naps this weekend.  If you know my kids, you know they need their sleep!

Every thing was going well.  They were playing, and happy.  After the Easter egg hunt it all went down hill.  For the past year, they have been getting extremely jealous of each other, especially if Ian or I are alone with them.  They each want us to themselves.  I was holding Harly, and Zoey got upset and started crying.  I picked them both up and sat with them, thinking ok, lets just sit on mommy's lap and play with stickers.  Well that didn't last real long, they started pushing each other, they didn't want to share mommy.  After about 5 minutes of crying (could have been 10 minutes), I was flustered.

At home, I usually just tell them they have to share mommy and remove them both from my lap.  Then I get a new toy that we can all play together to distract them, if that doesn't work, I find something for each of them to do on their own.  I was so flustered I didn't know what to do.  I needed them to understand that they can share me and I wasn't going anywhere.  They are deathly afraid that I am going to leave them.  They can't be in a room alone without me in it, and if they are, they call out and search for me to make sure I am still around.

I don't know if I handled it the right way today, but I couldn't think at that point.  I never prepared myself for a situation like this.  A situation where they both break down at the same time in public.  They have had breakdowns in public, but not both of them together.  What I did:  I put both of them down, told them it was time to go bye bye.  They both screamed because I put them down, and also I think they were scared I was going without them.  I went and got all of our stuff, said a quick goodbye to everyone and started walking to the door.  Zoey followed, but Harly wanted me to pick her up.  When I started making the door close, she ran to me.  The minute we got in the car and I started driving they were happy.  Me, I was still so flustered and ready to cry.  I am not sure why, I think just from not having a break this weekend and being stressed with all the life changes happening right now in our life.  I am sure they sense that too and it doesn't help them.

I don't know if I could have handled the situation differently at that point.  They were so worked up, there was no calming them down.  They usually calm down rather quickly for me, with daddy, he can calm them down in .2 seconds.  I wish daddy was with us today!  But, I did the best I could.  I didn't want to give in to them and pick them up.  I wanted them to learn and understand that they can't fight when they are both on mommy, I want them to know I love them both equally and that mommy can hold them both at the same time.  To mommies of twins-  twins get jealous, they always have to share you and daddy, they don't get to have you all to themselves.  I think the girls are starting to see that.  To mommies with different age kids- I am not sure how it works for you guys, any feedback would be great, especially since we will be having more kids at some point!  I know they were just over-tired and worn out from the busy weekend, but next time this happens I am a little prepared.  Also if it was just one who had a breakdown, I would have handled the situation differently.  It would have been easier to calm one down then two.  I have a lot of patience, and if I would have gotten a break over the weekend, I probably would of had a lot more patience to deal with them and pull them to a corner for a talk, but my patience was running thin.  So the best thing for the three of us was to just leave and go home for a nap.

When we got home:  The girls were so happy like nothing ever happened.  Not sure if they were just overwhelmed too with all the people there.  That could have also been a factor!
sharing their easter eggs with each other!

Harly so happy!

Their cheese faces!

Sissy was chasing Zoey into the house, they play so nicely at home!

They slept from 1-4 today and were so happy all evening, so I blame it on the lack of sleep from this weekend!  **Any words of wisdom and advice is more than welcome**

Friday, March 23, 2012

Erin's Special Ceremony

I posted about Erin, this beautiful 8 year old girl who is fighting cancer for a third time on March 3rd.  You can read the post here.  Well, I had the honor and privelege of photographing her making the 3 sacraments: Reconciliation, First Communion, and Confirmation.

I have never met a more positive family than this one.  They remind me of my family and how close knit we are.  They are what every family needs to be like.  Even if Erin wasn't sick, they would still be this way.  I watched each family member come into the church, there were tears, hugs, and laughter.  They all came together for this little girl.  During the service, there was not a dry eye in the church.  Being there and watching this all, those tears were not tears of sorrow or remembering Erin has cancer but about celebrating life, the love for this little girl, how far she has come, and how strong she is.  She is my inspiration!

Please read this post by Erin's mom just to get an understanding of how strong and positive they are: Erin's story.  Scroll down to March 18th and read her post.  If you also want to understand how they had to tell Erin that she had cancer for the third time and had to let her decide what route she wanted to go on, scroll down to March 3rd.

this family is strong, I know they have weak moments, but they don't let thos moments bring them down.  This family as so much fight in them and they won't give up.  They have such a positive outlook on life and have helped me.  I truely wish each and everyone of you could meet them.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from that day.  It was so hard for me to choose which ones to put on here.

One of my favorites, Erin's mom kept scooting closer to her daughter, with tears streaming down her face.  A mother's love for her daughter is indescribable!  This picture says it all. This picture gets me every time I look at it.

Being confirmed



Erin's sister, Annie

First Communion

Erin's Aunt Lyndsey, she loves her nieces as if they were her own children!

 Erin helping her little sister, Mary, talk into the microphone.

Another favorite, Erin's expression, and Mary upset that her bottle was taken from her!

Another favorite, you can tell how much fun her daddy and Erin have!

I love this one, the soft effect on her is my fave!


Grandpa got a kiss in!


The three sisters!


This pic is not the best, but we were all trying to get Mary to sit still and look at the camera, her facial expression says it all, "Really, I just want to run around the altar, you have two seconds!"


Tuesday, March 13, 2012

M.I.A

Sorry I have been MIA this past week.  there are a lot of changes happening in our life.  I will fill you all in at some point.  What to look forward to on the blog:

*how to photograph in your home

* I could hold you in my arms forever part 2

* car seat safety

* decluttering all the kids toys (Thanks to Stephanie for writing a blog about this, can't wait to link her up and post our organized rooms)

* milestones!!! There were some exciting ones that have happened!  Such as not being able to get the girls to stop talking!

*sleepless nights, daylight savings

* potty training

* the continuous of our everyday, crazy dance parties!

and the list goes on...I can't wait to share all of this.  I have a few projects I am doing right now that are holding me back from being able to sit and blog.  One is for Erin who is battling cancer and her family, one is for other mothers of twins, and the last one is "staging our house"  The last one should give you a hint of the major changes going on in our lives!
Zoey

Harly

Saturday, March 3, 2012

I could hold you in my arms forever...PART 1

I normally wouldn't blog about what I am going to write right now.  This blog I wanted just for my experiences and parenting tips.  Then I looked back at this tough week and what hit me was tonight when my coworker's sister blogged that her daughter who we have been praying for has to battle cancer for the third time at the age of 8.  Your saying in your head right now, 8?  Yes, that is right, and this is her third battle. 

Most of you know, This blog does not list where I live, to protect my children.  I will tell you one thing though, is that I did go to Chardon High a long time ago.  I did know one of the victims family.  I can't describe the pain my heart is in.  I didn't think it would be this hard, but it is.  It has taken a toll on me, on my husband, and my family.  I will not post anything else regarding this matter, except another post on our parenting when it comes to bullying, guns, technology, and talking to our children( at another time).  All I ask of you is to pray for these families as they endure the pain of having to bury their children, that they find strength and peace during this time.  Also pray for the shooter, yes his act was unexcusable, but as one mother of the victim's said you have to forgive to move on and remember the good memories of your child, if you don't forgive you will have hatred in your heart and that is not remembering your child.

What made the week even worse, is something that should not happen to any child.  My coworker, a friend of mine who I love working with has to deal with something no family should be put through.  I can't wrap my head around this.  No child should have to battle cancer 3 times, let alone once.  She beat it at 4 years old, 7 years old, and now round three.  My coworker is an amazing person, her family is strong, her family will get through this and her niece will fight this.  She beat it twice, third times the charm.  8 years old and she is given 3 options, two of them you never want to have to tell your child.  please support this family, you can do so by going to Erin's page

I am fragile, I am weak, I need strength from God right now.  And then I think, why am I asking for strength from Him?  The families dealing with the real thing need Him, I am dealing with the side effects.  I shouldn't be seeking Him right now when there are 5 families who just experienced a tragedy, and 1 family going through their worst nightmare of a horrible disease.

I look at my girls all week, every night when I put them in bed, I have cried, I don't want to put them to bed I don't want to leave them for 12 hours I want to hold them and have them by my side 24 hours a day.  I have cried everytime I have kissed them and hugged them this week.  I want to hold them in my arms forever...

Hug and kiss your kids, even if you are mad at them, even if they are mad at you.  Tell them you love them.  Live day to day, cause you never know when it will be your last.  Don't dwell on the past.  Enjoy the little moments.

I leave you with this:  At the wake on danny's card was a poem about how "God only takes the best." One of the lines that struck me was "  He whispered come with me, with tearful eyes we watched you, and saw you pass away.  Although we loved you dearly, we could not make you stay...God broke our hearts to prove to us he only takes the best."  Then on the other side it reads:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change...
Courage to change the things I can and
Wisdom to know the difference
                   -Amen