We have had such a great Friday and weekend!

Friday was filled with fun little moments! Abigail started the day with a sweet little bit of singing! It was precious! She has been cooing for some time, but it was a continuous little song! I can't help but stop and smile when she does that kind of stuff! She just melts my heart! I brought her into the kitchen and sat her in her carrier on the floor so that I could feed her baby food! Cade and Annabelle had finished their breakfast so they were sitting on each side of the baby watching me feed her. They were quite curious about the banana baby food and oatmeal cereal! I couldn't resist, so I offered Cade a bite. He ate it, but made a really funny face! I figured it was Annabelle's turn, so I put a little bit in her mouth! Oh my, I thought I was going to pop from laughing so hard! She started gagging and I was afraid she was going to be sick on the spot! I grabbed her a sippy cup and she drank like there was no tomorrow. I think its safe to say that Abigail has the baby food all to herself! :)

Annabelle got her hands on a polo blue, mens fragrance insert from the Macy's add! I showed her that you open the scent strip and sniff! I guess during all those years that I worked for Ralph Lauren, somehow it soaked into my blood and passed to her, because she loved it! I actually took it away from her after a while of watching her walk around the house swith it stuck to her nose, sniffing! Hope those brain cells are ok!  Her daddy would love me for that!

Later in the afternoon, I found myself snickering again as I watched to twins try to give eachother a high five! So far they have only given other people high five..people who know how to hold their hands still and let them do the slapping! When the two of them tried together, they were a mess! Neither one of them could figure out why they couldn't make their hands hit together!They both were blinking too which didn't help! Too funny! We'll have to work on that one! :)

Everyday, the afternoon (right around 4pm) is one of the busiest times for me. The twins have gotten up from their nap, Shane has usually fallen asleep on the floor while playing with them, for his 20 minute or so " teenager" nap, and Abigail is wanting her bottle. I'm usually also starting to work on dinner! It can get a little crazy!  Anyway, I tease that one of the most common phrases I say daily is, "I'll be with you in just a moment"! On Friday afternoon , it got shortened to "hang on"! I was scrambling around the kitchen and Abigail had started squawking (as Ma Carrie once called it when she was starting to fuss) a little bit for her bottle. I started talking to her as I often do (as if she understands). I said, "Abigail, sweetie, hang on, Mommy is getting it as soon as she can"! At that point Annabelle, who was standing in the kitchen, turned toward where Abigail was, and said, "hang on" to her! She considered it very important to let Abigail know to hang on! She has so much personality, goodness!

I had also bought some kids bandaids at the grocery store (since Cade has had a boo boo on his elbow that keeps getting bumped each time he falls). I had put one on him and I had a cut on my finger, so I put one on too! I thought poor Annabelle might feel left out, so I asked her if she wanted one. I started toward her with it and she started screaming and crying! I was shocked! I kept trying to get close enough to show her the pretty designs on it and that it was just a bandaid! She was shaking and having a fit! It finally hit me..Every month from November through March, for the past two winters, a nurse would come to the house to administer the synagis shot to each of the twins! That nurse would always get out the bandaids for each leg before she ever got started! Annabelle would scream, shake, and cry over the shots everytime! She had to associate the bandaids I bought with it all!  (not to mention the one after her flu shot a couple of months ago). I can't think of any other reason she would act that way! I did finally get one on her hand where there was no boo boo! Oh, how she held her hand up for kisses on that spot!  Silly girl!

Daddy decided it would be fun to head up to Blue Ridge on Saturday for a picnic and to let the twins play on some property. I packed three outfits for each of them as I was sure they would be getting dirty! We threw their wagon in the truck along with the golden and yorkie- of course the yorkie had to ride in my lap, not the back of the truck! Anyway, they were too busy exploring to sit and picnic! We had to stuff bites in while they were passing by! Cade always had rocks in his hands every time he blew by! Annabelle wanted to keep playing in the tupperware bowl we had filled with water for the dogs to drink. Sheez! Abigail sat up in her bumbo chair and enjoyed being with us! It was not exactly a Norman Rockwell picnic, but it was fun anyway! We had 4 deer come right up to where we were! By the time we had slowly moved to get the camera, they turned and ran off! They were really pretty!

We went to a different area and piled the babies in their wagon to haul them down to a creek! Oh my, they had such a great time splashing and walking around in the water. It was only about 5 or 6 five inches deep in most places. So perfect for them, except it was ice cold! Good thing it was 77 degrees outside!  The dogs were in heaven too! Cade wound up falling down a good bit. Poor fellow, it was a lot to navigate for one who has only been walking for 3 months! It never deterred him! He would pop back up and keep on playing! Needless to say, they were soaking wet and so dirty when it was time to go. Annabelle cried and had a fit to stay. She was having so much fun! I love her eager, adventurous spirit, It definitely reminds me of how Darby was as a young child! We had let them play for a good while but wanted to get them in dry clothes! She cried the whole way back to the truck! Poor Jamie, he was pulling the wagon uphill, through the thick woods, and then on deep gravel! I had Abigail in a body carrier and her little legs were swinging back and forth as I puffed up the hill! Whew, I have seriously got to get on that treadmill!  Cade has so much dirt in his hair, Jamie used a huge water bottle to pour over his head just to get it out! We got them dry and snuggled back in their warm car seats! We rode back into town for a chocolate milkshake! Did I mention I had packed three outfits? Oh yes, after the shakes, we went to the third outfits! ha ha! But they loved it! We made one more stop to feed Abigail her bottle, then decided to head home! We were tired but so grateful  for such a simple, wonderful day with these little ones! Wish Shane had been able to go! 

Sunday, we rested! :) It was a great. lazy day!

Monday we enjoyed a family dinner for Jamie's Birthday!  I had gone and gotten balloons and decorations for him! The twins were so cute trying to sing "Happy Birthday to him! Annabelle finally was able to tell him, Happy Day! I guess "birthday" is just too long! Lots of funny stories about getting those balloons home in the van! Cade and Annabelle had been given one each from the employee at the party store! I had tried to tie them to the stroller and lost Cade's! The sweet girl blew another one up for him! We got that one to the car safely! However, before we could pull away, it dbove Abigail, who grabbed it and popped it! She didn't even cry! Cade did when he realized he was only holding a string! I assured him we had a whole big bunch in the back of the van! They have had so much fun with them! I think Jamie enjoyed his birthday too! :)

As for today,......it was one of those days! I had a pulmonologist appointment for Cade on the other side of town at 9:30am. ( which means traveling through rush hour )I left an hour and a half before the appointment and got there with 15 minutes to spare! It takes me a few minutes to get the twins in the double stroller with the diaper bags and get Abigail in the carrier! And boy, was it humid today! Just irritating and draining!Whew, let the circus begin! I made it in to the elevators with five minutes to spare, thinking, wow, I made it!. I got on and pressed the 4th floor button! Another lady got off at the third! The doors opened again and I saw a level 3 sign! I shut the door and hit the 4th floor button again!  The elevator started going down! It stopped on the second and I was furiously pressing the 4th floor button over and over but it wouldn't highlight! So I get back up to the thrid and got off! I thought I would see if the other elevator was wroking properly! I tried to press the up button in the lobby but nothing happened. Other people that were waiting opted to take the stairs up or down! I didn't exactly have that option with a huge stroller and all my gear! I couldn't believe I had come all that way and couldn't get up one more floor! I was 5 minutes late already. I found the doctor's business card in my wallet and called them! I promised I was an educated woman who despite having 3 small babies, did in fact still have most of her mind, and was capable of operating an elevator, but at the time could not get to them! The receptionist went out to the lobby and pressed the down button at the same time that I pressed the up button and we actually got it to work! Can't tell you how excited I was to get in to that elevator knowing that it wasn't working properly and what if I was stuck with 3 little babies in a 6 by 6 ft box for a while...oh delightful! I was very happy to see the doors open to the right floor! After being 10 minutes late, ( they have a "we can charge you a 100.00 fee anyway and not see you if you're late, we're specialist, too bad for you" policy) I looked at the woman sitting at the desk as if challenging her to a duel..while my mind was thinking, oh Lord, help me be kind today! :) Thank goodness they understood that I enjoy playing with elevators and saw us anyway! I thought my challenge for the day was over, but nooooooo! I knew it was past nap time for all of them so I was pushing it anyway, and Cade totally flipped out when he realized we were there for him and not the girls! He started screaming, crying and bucking in my arms..Remember,  I had Abigail in a front body carrier too!  Oh my, I got her undone without throwing, ahem,.. I mean ..letting ..Cade fall off the exam table, and sat her in the stroller where Cade had been. She and Annabelle were in shock at how upset Cade was, so at least they didn't make a peep! As the PA watched all this, I just kept smiling and gritting my teeth! Finally I sat on the exam table with Cade on my right leg to keep him calm..or a little more calm. Anyway, I was trying to have a somewhat normal conversation across the room with screaming on my right side ( the only ear I can hear out of)! There's no telling what I agreed to! All of a sudden, my right leg felt really hot! I picked Cade up to discover that he had wet ( not his diaper, but my whole leg and the table!) Bless his heart, the position I had him in made his diaper gap and it was like he had poured a glass of water right on my jeans! I continued to smile as Brian, the PA, didn't really know what to do! I tried to grab paper towels and wipe off the table and my leg! I was glad I had packed extra clothes for him...oops, there was only a shirt in the baby bag! However, Annabelle had a soft pink jogging suit in there! A smile crept over my face, but I decided to let him just wear a diaper and his shirt! Who would know I didn't have twin girls, right? just kidding! I managed to finish the appointment which was just a touch base kind of thing before RSV season ( hopefully to have a game plan to keep Cade out of Scottish Rite this year! ) Brian asked if I wanted the door shut while I got them loaded. I told him yes, it wasn't always pretty to watch! :)  As I was putting Abigail in the body carrier, she spit up what seemed like a third of her morning bottle all over me! That awful reflux~! Stinky! James called to see how things were going. I quickly told him, Let me call you when I get to the car, then two words, "complete disaster"! He said "ok" and didn't press for any other information (which is odd for him)! I gathered myself, though smelling like walking urine and vomit, and we finally made our way back out to the dreadful elevators. I prayed and got on! We made it to the car where I changed any bottom that might possibly be wet and drove to the exit! The attendant informed me that they didn't take credit cards, cash and check only. ( all  lots in ATL take credit cards nowadays) I had to write a $2.00 check as the world waited behind me to get out of the parking lot! I took my time! (smirk) Let them have this day and still try to have a shred of humor left! The babies were all beyond tired and James encouraged me that I do such a good job and just to try to get them home. ( ha ha) I got back on our side of town and pulled into the driveway, relieved! ( If you read a blog a few weeks ago, you'll remember me metioning a time when the garage door only raised up about 7 or 8 inches and I was afraid I would have to try to fit under and get filthy to get in the house) Well, this would be the day that it would malfunction again! And I pressed it over and over and over again hoping it would work. James was an hour away, so I didn't even call..I mean, why bother, I had urine on my leg, vomit on my shirt, was I afraid to add a little garage floor filth now? I slid under and went around to the front door! Finally we were home!  Lord, I'm not sure what I was supposed to learn today, but you have my attention! :)

Shane had to have a physical form "by today" for basketball at school. I had thought the one from January would work, but the school wanted one from this semester! So I thought I would fax the form to his doctor and they could fax it to the school when it was complete while I had taken the babies to the morning appt. Oh the wonderful medical privacy act. They couldn't fax it to the school, so I had to wait until after lunch for it to be completed so I could go pick it up, bring it home, and fax it from here. That wouldn't be so bad normally, but the babies needed a nap so terribly. I had made them eat lunch and knew the minute I put them down I would get a call that the form was ready for pick up. So we waited...and waited.. and screamed..and fussed..( not Abigail, but the twins) until 2. I called the doctor and begged for it, while letting them hear the chaos in the background..that does seem to help people realize what I'm dealing with! They had it ready in 5 more minutes so off we went. Finally I got back- I had left the back door unlocked- and dared anyone to steal anything! The fax went through and the children went down! I flopped down on the couch only to have my mind think of everything in the world! Agh!

I started 2 loads of laundry and fed Abigail her bottle in the rocker on the front porch! That was a wondeful part of the day! She smiled and cooed and made it all better! James got home as close to 5 as possible and started helping! We had an early dinner ( chicken scallopini, which turned out good in spite of the day) and he grabbed the twins, loaded them in the truck, informed me to take a bubble bath, and headed to pick up Shane from practice! I thought, yeah sure, take a bath! But I actually made myself leave the dinner mess and head to our garden tub. I stripped Abigail down to her diaper and put her in her bouncy seat next to the tub. I bathed and them pulled her in with me! (without her diaper) ha ha! It was so nice to snuggle with her and have her smile and enjoy it too! We stayed in there until we were all pruney! (sp?) Her little skin is so soft and she smells so good!! Holding her was just the medicine I needed after this day! I still don't know how God ever decided to give us such a sweet angel! Thank goodness she's in our world! I was so grateful that James came home and rescued my evening and I got to wind down with my sweet baby girl!  Precious blessings!

Its past midnight now, I'd better go rest!

Think we'll stay home tomorrow! :)

Love to all!

Dirty Thursday!

There were 2 funny stories from this morning, but I've already forgotten them, agh! We'll skip to the afternoon!

Another beautiful afternoon to soak in some sunshine in the backyard! I love these days that the babies can all get out and get their Vitamin D and fresh air!  Abigail sat in her bumbo chair under the October glory maple and watched the breeze blow a few leaves down beside her. Our sweet golden is getting older and opted to lay next to her instead of chasing the ball with the yorkie and the twins! I do wish I had brought the camera out for that! They were so funny! They would take turns throwing the ball and then stumbling to try to beat Macy to it! Poor things, they didn't stand a chance! Macy is fast..except with her lizard hunting! LOL!

Of course we had to swing as we do everyday! Annabelle will cry when I pull her out of her swing no matter how long she has been in it! Cade doesn't have time for it, he's constantly exploring. So many things in the yard to check out! It always makes for a good afternoon nap too!

It's snack time when they get up, so Annabelle chose honey nut cheerios from the bottom shelf of the pantry. I put some in snack cups (which we never use) and gave them to the twins.  She liked the idea of having to reach in and only pull out one or two at a time. Cade didn't do so well. He would try to pull a whole handful out and it would fly everywhere! I just took the lid off of his and called the dogs for clean up on aisle 1. Annabelle cracked me up. She was sitting on the rubber alphabet/number mat we have in the kitchen next to me (snacking) while I was feeding the baby. First, she had to wipe the baby's mouth after every bite of baby food.. I guess she can't stand how many times you have to shovel the same bite in over and over while they're learning. That made it fun for me. Then, out of the blue, she reached over to the number 8 tile, which has little circles, about 2 inches in diameter, in the middle to make the 8. One of the circles was flipped over. Both sides are the same color, just a slightly different texture. Anyway, she knew it was wrong, and not logical, so in between bites, she just fixed it! I guess it had been bothering her. I hadn't even noticed! Oh my, again, just like her father! Then I noticed that if any of her cheerios fell out on her lap, she would pick them up and push them back into her snack cup. There were two stuck together and of course she had to take the time to separate them and then tuck them back in. Sheez, a detail girl for sure!

Cade had been so sweet! He came over and so softly touched the baby's head and talked to her! I love it when he shows his wonderful affection! He has been very affectionate to me lately! Yummy! A girl can use all the hugs she can get! :) Especially with the daily favorite parent quiz from Daddy! LOL! He has a few jay jay the airplane books, and today he really wanted to sit and read them with us! So glad he's enjoying the boy books!

I had to start dinner and the twins wanted to play out on the back deck. I can see most of it from where I work in the kitchen. I kept the french doors open so I could hear them. I keep it babyproofed, with a baby gate at the stairs and all the plants put up (since they love to dig the dirt out of all my potted plants)! Its like a huge playpen! Every now and then, I let them play out there for a little while I watch them through the open den windows and doors.(its a great way to get laundry folded on the couch. If they see me do it, they want to pull all the clean clothes off and play in them)!  Anyway, today, Shane was laying on the couch and fell asleep! So, no help entertaining them for me!  In between cooking, I would run and check on them every 3 or 4 minutes or so. Of course, after one of those short intervals, I poked my head through the door to find them sitting on the far side of the long outdoor glass table grabbing all the dirt out of a plant I had moved to the center where they normally can't get to it! Those stinkers actually scooted ( most likely together) a heavy iron swivel end chair out enough to climb up in it and get on the table! Yes, I grabbed the camera, and then they were in trouble! There is just nothing they can't think up or figure out! The strength of two baffles me!

I cleaned them and it all up and then made them stay in the kitchen with me and Abigail! I did then have so much help cooking dinner as usual. Annabelle got a kick out of my mini chopper! I put her on the counter and quartered an onion to put in it. I didn't let her see me operate the lid as she knows how things work after one demo! I then showed her which button to push.. She jumped at first, giggled, then pressed it as many times as I continued to ask her to. She was rather sad when it was over. She would've chopped everything in the fridge for me! I quickly washed it and put it away so she couldn't see where I keep it. I'll probably regret furthering their desire to push buttons someday! We got our chili going and put some biscuits in the oven just in time to have it ready for Daddy, Shane and everybody!! Yes, everybody! I had not planned on feeding the twins chili, but of course Annabelle loves spicy food and her Daddy thinks she should get to have things like that! They both gobbled it up and drank a ton of water! I can just imagine the fun diapers I'll be changing tomorrow!

We have been enjoying a nice evening watching the Phillies/Giants game with Shane! He's a wonderful young man and it amazes me how much all the babies love him! Even Abigail knows when he walks in the room! He's quite busy, but makes time for them everyday when he gets home! He's considering playing basketball, who knows, we'll see! We'll have a lot of babies yelling "Sha, Sha" from the stands if he does! LOL!

Time to get some rest, Shane has to be at school early for FCA. It's almost 11:00 and my mind doesn't shut off as easy anymore. Love to all!

Tuesday's Funny Farm/ Fussy Wednesday

Goodness, I should've blogged yesterday, but I was just too tired! I took the twins out to Alabama to visit Nanny, Papa, Gma Delong, Aunt Rachel, and Uncle Wayne! What a big day!  I always tell them where we're going when we get in the car! They usually repeat it and I can tell they understand! But they have only been able to say, "Papa", not Nanny, so that was all they said back to me.

Mom started working on that just about as soon as we got there! She had Annabelle saying "Nanny" in no time! Cade is still just saying Papa! I'm sure that will be fixed the next time we see them! :) The twins love dragging all the toys out of Nanny's toy box pretty quickly after we get there! It's great not to have to lug toys around...but of course Annabelle had packed her backpack of books! Grandma got lots of time in holding Abigail! They both enjoy it! Sweet times!

Aunt Rachel and Uncle Wayne grabbed the twins and took them across the street to see Rachel's bus! Cade was a little intimidated but warmed up when Annabelle got involved! They had fun sitting in the driver's seat and "talking on the phones" ha ha! There are pictures on Facebook of this part! Annabelle was intrigued by all the controls and buttons! I can just see it now, she'll be informing her busdriver of a more logical way to do things when she starts kindergarten! :0! Cade checked out the huge tires! (He always has to go touch tires and wheels on all cars he sees)! His hands were black! Uncle Wayne said he did seem a little concerned that the bus tires were bigger than him! He's probably dreaming about them right now! LOL! All boy!

They stuffed themselves on chicken, mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, and of course, ice cream! Papa always has some messy treat that they adore! While they were messy, we decided to take them to the farm which is only 10 minutes away to see Rachel's horses! They were hysterical! They both got so excited! Neither one of them showed any fear and couldn't wait to get close to them. Thank goodness the horses are small! The twins both sat on them and Annabelle held her hand out to let one of them put their mouth and nose on her.
The biggest hit was the horses' water trough! Before I knew it, little hands were in it and splashing everywhere! Oh my, nothing is ever neat and clean! The horses did seem a little confused by it! After a while, we gave them a break and took the twins to see Papa's John Deere in the shed! They sat on it and wanted it to go! We thought it would be easier to leave it parked and not start something that would never end! They wouldn't want to quit until the whole farm was cut!

Wayne decided to plop them up on the hay stack for some play time! They loved it! We got some cute pics, of course! He then took a bale and dropped in over the fence so the babies could see the horses feed! Annabelle thought it was a great idea. After a few minutes, I knew what her little mind was thinking as she watched them eat, turned around, and took off running! Rachel asked her where she was going. I said, "just watch"! She ran back over to the hay pile, a good little run from the fence, and grabbed a handful of hay for the horses to have more! Cade had been trailing her and grabbed some too! He dropped his on the way back, but she delivered her's inside the fence! Of course it was only 3 or 4 little pieces, but she had done her part! She only has to watch something one time and has it all figured out! ( gets that from her Daddy for sure) They share that engineering mind! I find myself thinking that it seems like she's 3 yrs old instead of 20 mths! I probably hold her to that with what I ask her to do, but it doesn't seem to bother her! Cade just enjoys things! He has a little more laid back approach..sometimes! He does have that logic thing going on, but is more randomly curious! He didn't care that his hay didn't make it to the fence, he just had fun running and grabbing it! :) He doesn't let her leave him behind, that's for sure!!

While we were chatting, she had layed down on her belly and was trying to scoot under the wire fence to be with the horses again! Goodness, that child is determined! She looked up at us with red little cheeks! We knew she had been playing hard in the sun and that a bath and naptime were closing in! We piled in the van and headed back to the house in town! We stripped them and giggled with them as they danced and yelled, "Ba, Ba"! They love baths! ( I did remember to give them a sippy cup this time so that they didn't have to drink the bath water after running around outside- see I do learn! :)

After Rachel and I got them out of the tub and wrestled clothes on them, Annabelle decided she wanted to brush everyone's hair! She went around the den to Nanny, Papa, me, Aunt Rachel, Cade, and even Abigail! We all had to lean forward and let her brush away! She got to Uncle Wayne and quickly lowered the brush, spun around, and with huge eyes and furrowed brow, looked at us as if to ask, "what do I do with that?" Since Uncle Wayne has not even one hair on his head, she seemed quite perplexed! But to be creative, she didn't miss a beat, but turned back around and "pretended" to brush it! haha! We were all snickering! Every now and then Gma DeLong will be in a silent laugh that will bring tears to her eyes and take her breath while no one else ever hears a thing. That happened our last trip out over something Annabelle did. She had already left when this happened or Annabelle's face might've gotten her again! LOL! Uncle Wayne is a good sport and played along with the brushing!

We fed the twins an early dinner before getting on the road! Nanny had made a cheesecake and pulled it out for dessert! Annabelle didn't think she wanted any, but I know how much they are like their Daddy-even in what they will eat- and cheesecake is his favorite-so I told Nanny to make sure she at least got some on her mouth. Wow! That's all it took! I was feeding Cade and Nanny was feeding Annabelle as fast as we could! The only time they stopped was for a big sip of sweet tea, which they love too!!  We had to get a second piece each to keep going and get a little for ourselves! Guess I'd better get a good recipe!

Oh how I hate it when its time to leave from visiting family! I wish everyone was at least in the same state! James' side is 4 and a half hours away, and mine is an hour and a half! It is so hard to say goodbye!

We made it back in time to see Daddy and Shane for a while before bed time! Whew, the farm can really wear little ones out!
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We had fun today! I had a 7:40 am dentist appointment  (to replace an old filling- ick) and while I was gone Annabelle did her part to get her Daddy ready for work! We have double sinks and a really long mirror. She knows where I stand to get ready and where he stands. She stood on my fluffy rug and picked up my hairdryer. Jamie said she pressed all the buttons. Luckily, I had unplugged it, but she held it up and pretended to dry her hair anyway! She's a mess. I'm sure he couldn't have done it without her!

We rocked on the front porch after saying bye bye to him! She loves to climb up in "her" rocker. There are 4 out there, but she likes a certain one. Its time to come in when they start swatting at the flowers and breaking their stems. We read books and did some puzzles. Annabelle has now mastered all 5 of them, and was off to find a new challenge. That's always dangerous! Cade loves to read his Tonka Truck books and make music drumming on whatever he can find. He just bops around checking out what he can get into.

They ate lunch on the deck and then Annabelle used the windex and paper towels on the large glass table. She didn't want me to help her! She does have her own system. I just love it when she chooses to use that system on a cleaning chore! She did a pretty good job, for a toddler. They also helped me water some plants around the pond and in the garden! They are always such a hoot to watch! They found one of the dog's big bones ( to which Annabelle commented, yucky yucky ) although she would hold it and give it to Abby. I just had to explain that they shouldn't give it to her and then want it back! Silly little ones. They weren't sure what was going on when they walked through the large weeping willow that has dropped almost all its small leaves. They didn't really realize that there were a lot of long flexible branches that would be dragging across their shoulders. Annabelle shut her eyes and pulled her arms in and kept making her way through it! Cade just kept stumbling until he came out the other side. He really enjoys being outside. To let me know earlier that he wanted to be in the backyard, he had gone over and pulled on the back door knob and squealed! Wish he would use his words for that! They can be really fussy inside and as soon as we get outside, its a whole different disposition.

Abigail actually sat in one of the baby swings on the playset today! It was initially out of necessity..I had to lift Annabelle into her swing and didn't have anywhere to put the baby. I thought I would just sit her in there for a minute, and it turned out that she was strong enough to hold on and sit up..and swing!  I thought I had worn them out well enough, so we headed in to sponge off and take a nap. The twins must not have slept well, because they were dreadful when we got them up. Whew, just so fussy and wanting to be held...which was fine until I had to cook dinner. I had two screaming 28lb growths on my legs! The baby decided to pitch in her two cents for good measure too! It was wierd! I haven't had them all fuss and want to be held at the same time in a while! At least Cade took a brief break and was so sweet! He went and got Annabelle's blanket and stuffed bunny and brought it to her, trying to comfort her. I love it when they do things like that! She seemed to appreciate his gesture but still cried!  Shane solved it by giving them each a plastic spatula and large plastic spoon while he was unloading the dishwasher. Thank goodness! The idea was that they could make music with them...but Cade is a boy and a spatula does somewhat resemble a sword. Funny how early that starts. Annabelle was up for the challenge! Their were huge spoons and spatulas flying everywhere with twins both hurling them while shutting their eyes! I don't know how they even thought they could see where they were aiming. We did retrieve them before anyone got hurt...and so resumed the crying! Agh! It's funny what you'll do or allow for 5 minutes of silence or giggling! Its kind of like when I'm folding laundry in the den and they've gone to another room and its really quiet! I know I should be moving fast to see what damage is being done, but there is that moment when I just relish the silence and  linger while thinking, "how bad could it be, is it worth 2 minutes by myself"? Then I snap back when the can of comet pops into my mind!  ha ha! jk! I KNOW what they're capable of! They need no extra opportunity!

James got home just as I was getting dinner on the table! He stepped in and started feeding the litttle rascals! They were little piggies! It was such a nice evening, we thought we would sit with them on the back deck after they finished! Annabelle never ceases to amaze me with how she emulates her Daddy! James and I were having a conversation, or trying to, and I couldn't figure out why she had crawled up in a chair, stood up, and was putting her hands on the sides of her head! I asked her if she was hurting? I told her to sit down and continued to try to chat! She did it again! James was in the chair a couple of feet from her and I glanced over at him, like "I can't believe she keeps doing this". Then it hit me. He was leaning back with his fingers clasped together behind his head holding it! She was standing up to be as high as he was and was doing what she thought he was doing! She would look at him to make sure it was right, and then look at me as if she was part of the conversation! So funny! He already knew what was happening....which explained the little grin on his face that clearly didn't have anything to do with what we were talking about. Those two!

We tucked them in 30 minutes early with very little protest! They must've been really tired! Whew! Gave Miss Abigail her bath and last bottle! It's finally all quiet! Going to try to rest before taking Shane to school early!

Love to all!

Mellow Monday!

We had a little more of a slow day today! Just hung around the house and read books, played with the stacking buckets, puzzles, laundry basket, vacuum cleaner, pretty much anything and everything! :) The twins were fun! While I was feeding Abigail, Annabelle came over and rubbed my hair away from my eyes and leaned her head into mine. That's still how she "gives love" to someone! I've just never had her gently move my hair. It was so sweet! I love those little moments! Abigail is really getting the hang of the baby food and cereal. She open her mouth so much better and lets me get around that tongue. So neat to see her little victories! She doesn't like to lay down on her back on the floor anymore. She tries to do a little sit up when I lay her like that! So just growing so fast! She spent some time in her bumbo chair and exersaucer today again! She seems happiest there when I'm not holding her!

Cade wanted to read his Tonka Truck book over and over again! Glad to see him actually be interested in it still! He loved on Abigail today too! He is an affectionate little guy. He seems to want to be held a bit more lately. I do try to accomodate him every time I can!

This afternoon I caught Annabelle with the sponge washing the big bay window by the table! She was making a mess, but she seemed so happy and proud, so I didn't dare go behind her and reclean!  She then took all the soup cans off the bottom shelf of the pantry. They are still arranged on the pantry floor the way she wanted them. So funny how she likes to re-organize what I've done! She did this the other day as soon as I had finished cleaning it all out.

Cade said "butter" while I was cooking this evening. He wanted to be held, but settled for sitting on the kitchen counter near where I was working. We do this every now and then! He sits very still and knows not to try to stand up. He loves to watch me cook while he holds a couple of spoons and bangs them together! I remember sitting on my great Aunt's counter while she made biscuits in the morning when we visited and no one else was awake yet. She would let me press a glass into the dough to "cut" the biscuit! A sweet memory I think about every time I lift him up on our counter.

We enjoyed dinner and went outside for our typical evening "hello/chat/play" with the nieghbors. The twins needed to get out and burn off that last bit of energy for the day! Annabelle was so funny! She fell down on the neighbor's walkway and no one was giving her the amount of attention that she felt was due, so she picked herself up, while still crying, and started marching toward the house. James finally caught up with her.. It was a funny sight to see her moving those little legs with such determination and a larger replica of her doing the same thing behind her!  He closed in and she was not happy to have her mission interrupted! He had to really love on her and make over her " nonexistent" boo boos! My goodness! Those two are so funny!

Got them all cleaned up and tucked in! I'm sure there were more stories I was going to share, but I just can't remember, lol! It doesn't take much for me to get tired in a hurry! Then the brain shuts down! I better get some rest for tomorrow! :)

Love to all!

walking for Abigail and Alyssa

We had a wonderful day at our first Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta Buddy Walk! It was so neat to see so many people and beautiful children there! There had to be at least 800 to 1,000 people on the Marietta Square! We enjoyed spending time with our friends and their baby Alyssa, who is 11 days younger than Abigail! I've mentioned before they were due on the same day, but Abigail decided to come early! We also got to see an old friend from high school who was in my older sister's grade! She has an incredible son who has Down's Syndrome and was just too cute! What a great time!

Its the kind of function where you come together, spread out a blanket, have barbeque, visit with lots of people, enjoy lots of fun things for the kids..little train rides, jumping inflatables, cotton candy, live entertainment (dancing, and the Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders), etc! Busy day! We all snickered as we began our "walk" portion of the day because their was an incredible air show starting at Dobbins AFB just a few miles South of us. So as hundreds of people took to the street, the planes took to the sky! Needless to say, the buddy walk took much longer than the police who blocked the streets expected because every few seconds, we were all pausing to look up and see the neat tricks! Ha ha! It was so funny because we all can't walk and look up and the same time, so it was a real people jam up! Cade absolutely loved it! We vowed right then that we will get this little fellow to an air show as soon as we can, because he would look and look until he could find the planes in the sky and just watch in awe! So precious! Annabelle seemed to like them too, but Cade was just glued to it! Abigail officially slept during her first walk..she had been awake from 12:30 to 3:30 while all the other festivities took place! She loves to be moving, so it didn't take anytime for her to fall sound asleep!

It did get a bit warm as we are still having days in the low 80's. Can't say that I remember putting sunscreen on Darby and Shane on October 17th of any year when they were little! Maybe we just didn't worry about sunscreen as much then..ha ! Cade and Annabelle also had the best time leaning over the edge of the large fountain on the square! Along with tons of kids! Their little hands and shirts were quite wet! Cade made a little friend while he was there! A precious little girl about his size with Downs. She just had to touch him and of course he didn't mind! He's so much more adaptable about that than Annabelle! She made friends with 4 year old identical twins girls! They were throwing pennies in the fountain and their mother started giving Annabelle money to throw in too! She got very good, very quick at holding her hand out and saying Tanktu! It only took a second for her to throw it in and reach for more! So funny! Whew, it seems like money goes that fast when their teenagers!

Jamie has endless energy when it comes to chasing them down and holding them in such a crowd! I don't know what I'd do without him ( I have to brag that the man did 4 loads of laundry Saturday and 2 on Sunday and cleaned the kitchen after dinner both days!-I normally do about 8 or so loads a week! Never dreamed it would be like that!) WOW! Then he kept up with the twins so I could take care of the baby and actually have a little adult conversation today! I'm so lucky to have that kind of help!

Can't wait until next year's buddy walk! We got some great ideas! People go all out for their teams! We saw lots of creative things! Huge team signs carried through the walk, bright team shirts, etc! So cute!

Friday night, Darby had her call/response film screening for the IJM (International Justice Mission) organization she founded on the campus! Its a phenomenal organization that targets human trafficking in America as well as abroad! (surprisingly, Atlanta is the number one city for trafficking of young girls in the country)! Amazingly startling and sad!! She had a good turnout despite competing with a bon fire for homecoming being held at the same time! They have accomplished truly great things on campus and now reaching throughout the Southeast! She's helping to bring a christian band called 10th Avenue North to Tuscaloosa for a spring concert! Fun to coordinate since she'll be in Argentina for the semester when they come! I'm so proud of her and her passions! She did enjoy Homecoming this weekend at BAMA! Sounds like it was great! It's such a beautiful campus and she does a great job of explaining how exciting game day is! Can't wait until we can get all the kids out there for a game! They would enjoy it so much!

Shane had his youth group tonight! He seemed to enjoy the time there! So glad he's plugged in. He was supposed to go fishing Saturday, but his plans fell through. He's been itching to go for a while..hopefully they can find some time soon!

Saturday had a couple of funny moments provided by the twins! Jamie decided to have his lunch while sitting on the floor sin the den so that he could watch the Florida State game. He had his legs stretched out straight in front of him and had a pretty good set up! Annabelle decided to plant herself on top of his legs while facing him. She of course was looking for bites of his chicken and salad! Never mind that she had just finished with her own lunch! Daddy's is always better! Anyway, bless his heart, he was trying to see the game and occasionally stick a bite in her mouth as well as his, when she decided to take his fork. She told him, "I got it" (one of her favorite phrases). She then proceeded to use it to get her own bites. Guess he wasn't moving fast enough for her! ha ha! poor Daddy!

Not long after that, Cade was being a bit sassy! He got put on the timeout stair! Annabelle wanted to go visit him there! Daddy told her, "no"  She attempted over and over. She apparently has some persisitence in her blood line? Anyway, She got in trouble and was crying because she couldn't be with her brother in time out..which rendered her in a different time out! They are so funny! Can't believe they try to console eachother when one of them is in trouble! Even if the other one is in trouble for doing something ugly to the first one!Whew, multiples are fun!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Its hard to get ready for the week to start and for our schedules to get going again!Oh well! Here we go!

Love to all!

Calmer days

Well, yesterday and today were much less eventful than Tuesday! Thank goodness! A few little sweet/ funny highlights! Yesterday we took it easy and got out with the twins in the evening to go to Publix for a few things. Sweet little Annabelle was walking in holding her Daddy's hand when her eye caught a family in another minivan backing out and leaving. Their windows were down so she could see them! She raised her free hand and waved and yelled, " Bye Bye" over and over again like we do to Daddy every morning! The people never noticed, but it didn't seem to discourage her! What a little punkin! I do snicker in the mornings when other people in the neighborhood leave around the same time as James. She thinks its her duty to see them all off with a wave, a "bye bye", and a blown kiss! Many of them have learned to look up and wave back! We have a great neighborhood! The twins did enjoy the new race car double seat buggy at the store! They each get a steering wheel and can make all the vroom sounds they want and it looks appropriate! :) Those little stinkers know that they are supposed to get to go by the bakery where the give children a free cookie each! Funny how fast they learn. Annabelle gives a big "tanktu" for her and Cade to the ladies there!

Today, Shane had to be at another local high school at 6:30am to leave for a FBLA field trip to the fair in Perry, GA. We were picking up one of his friends so it was rise and shine at 5:45 to leave by 6. I only get up in time to throw clothes on and brush my teeth on those early mornings when I'm just a taxi driver! It sounds like they had fun! Wish we had done those kind of things when I was in FBLA!!!

After breakfast and a HUGE cup of coffee, I was determined to get the little ones out of the house. They happily climbed into their wagon, I slipped Abigail into a body carrier, and we were off! It was surpisingly cool and windy! Leaves were blowing all around! The kids each had to have their own leaves to hold! We looked at all the Halloween decorations on the houses and practiced saying "trick or treat". Annabelle's verson was something like, 'yick uhmete- probably something to do with her new "chinese language". Cade got the "ick' sound, but then it faded off into a mutter! Boy, we have a lot of work to do on that one! Thought it was the start of another challenging day when I got back up the steep driveway (nearly killed me, sheez... I need to hit the treadmill..in all my spare time :). Anyway, I had locked the house up and carried the garage remote with me. I pressed the button and couldn't wait to get in the house and get a glass of ice water! The door raised about 8 inches and then stopped! I pressed it over and over and still....only 8 inches up! AGH! Didn't bring any keys, of course! I started pondering if I could coerce the twins to crawl under, unstrap the baby and push her in while in the clean carrier, and fit under there myself. Oh my, wish I hadn't eaten that big bagel for breakfast! :)! I did have a cell phone and called James as work! He sounded concerned that I had even thought about all of that! He told me to keep pressing the button. Don't you hate it when you tell someone that you've been doing that for several minutes already (duh) and then you do it right when they ask, and poof, it works! I was really too happy to get in to care! Just before it opened, my precious neighbor across the street had been pulling out to take her kids to preschool and gave me that sweet look as if to say," poor woman, what now?" She told me she would be back soon to help! She always does! Did I mention we have a great neighborhood? :)

The rest of the day was mostly just fun! After lunch, which Annabelle had asked to eat a "hot gog", I took the twins out to play in the backyard. Abigail snoozed in her bouncy seat while Annabelle wanted to swing endlessly. Cade's object of affection out there is a 5 foot pole/net that we use to clean leaves out of the creek and pond. He carried it around while he explored for over an hour! When he would fall down he would call me, saying, "help" to come get him up so he wouldn't have to let it go. I don't know what it is with him holding on to certain objects sometimes! So funny! They actually listen about staying out of the waterfalls and pond! I'm so glad! The sunshine felt wonderful. It wasn't too warm! Even the dogs enjoyed it!  Annabelle flopped down on the Golden and made those swaky/ kissing sounds! They call her " Abbu" for Abby! So sweet! There is a big air show this weekend at a local air force base. The planes and helicopters were flying over a lot today, so of course, the twins kept looking up and getting so excited!

Later, Annabelle decided she wanted to rearrange the walk in pantry after I did yesterday! I came into the kitchen to find a bunch of canned soups, crackers, etc in the middle of the floor! I asked her to put it all back up..and she did. It was just all going back in the way she thought it should! Whatever! James can call her when he can't find anything! :)

The twins got so excited when Daddy got home! They always do! Had their daily quiz where he asks them, Whose your favorite parent? They then all throw their hands up and say, "Daddy"! A little brainwashing going on around here! Annabelle has gotten into dancing a bit when she's happy! Sometimes she dances around in a cirle until she's so dizzy she can't stand! They giggle when she leans sideways and plops down!

Had some great evening time in the front yard! Several families in our neighborhood come out with their kids usually 3 or four times a week adn we all chat and let the little ones run around! It's so nice! Cade and Annabelle constantly test the boundaries we have given them for how far they can go. We all laugh as they say, "no no" and yet get as close as they can to the edge. Thank goodness the older kids jump in and help keep them where they're supposed to be! With the baby here, now we are only able to play zone defense, no more man to man! :) Annabelle was dancing on the sidewalk and Mr Steve across the street came up and let her know he had seen the mess she had made with the comet ( on Facebook) She pasted on an even bigger smile, probably thinking, "lets just don't go there, okay?" Good times!

 It is so nice and cool tonight, I have to go make rounds to see that all babies are covered up and snug! So glad tomorrow is Friday and Daddy will be with us for the weekend!

Love to all!

Laughter for my soul!

Whew! I have to take a big breath before I dive into recalling this day! :) There were some amazing parts and some amazingly challenging parts!

We'll start with some of the great stuff! :) Annabelle is so funny with all the new ways she finds to "help" each day! This morning I had just finished feeding Abigail the last part of a jar of banana baby food. I had left the spoon in the empty jar and had gone to retrieve something from Cade that he wasn't supposed to have. When I returned Annabelle was happily getting any last little bit of bananas out of the jar and sticking the spoon (pretty carefully, I might add) into Abigail's mouth! Abigail seemed grateful for my substitute! Annabelle always has that concerned look when she spots me as if she's not sure if I'm going to approve or not. It was so cute I grabbed the camera and let her do it a few more times. Yes, I can forsee that one day this will not be cute when I have a full jar of baby food that winds up all over the baby, but today it made a great picture!

This afternoon, after I had cleaned potting soil off of the twins from playing in a plant on the back deck, I enjoyed a wonderful gift! I was holding and bouncing little Abigail on my knees facing me, when she started laughing! I had never heard her do anything like it and it was absolutely precious! Oh how this little angel touches my heart! I just laughed along with her! When I was first pondering all that her having DS could mean, I was worried that my heart would miss hearing her talk until she was older and not hearing her say, "I love you" for some time. But her big smile and the laugh she gave me today speak so much to me! My heart is full! And, by the way, with all her acheivements, I am learning not to look at her DS label, but at her and I realize that she will follow her own development schedule and not necessarily the "ranges" for a baby having DS. I tried to call a few people to let them hear and grabbed the video recorder! I got part of it and I'm so glad! It was priceless! I love her happiness! Wow! Those are the moments!

Well, life being what it is, a day must contain balance and I should've known I was in for some groundbreaking experiences! It was about 4:30 and I was proud that I had managed to get the baby fed at 4 and the house back in order a little ahead of my daily time. I was getting ready to start cooking dinner so it would be ready by the time James got home! (whoo hoo, I'm good- maybe he'll never know the chaos that occurs here and how messy the house gets while he's at work), I had Abigail in the swing and the twins were playing in the foyer with their little kitchen. I lit a yummy smelling candle, started some jazz playing, and thought to myself, "this will be a nice, relaxing dinner and we can wind the day down peacefully through the evening! I'm sure we all need it! Well........... that didn't last long! Right then Darby happened to call, and I love chatting with her (adult conversation)! I have lost hearing in my left ear about 6 years ago and when I'm on the phone, I can't hear anything else!! It took me a minute to realize that the twins were being very quiet! ALWAYS a bad sign! I walked into the foyer and all I could say was, "OH MY GOODNESS"! Darby, being extremely keen, said immediately, "what did they do" I tried to give her a brief description followed by a hurried "I have to go" I'll call you back"! I grabbed the camera, because otherwise no one would believe me, and then started trying to figure out what to do! Apparently Annabelle had  gotten her hands on a 25 oz can of comet cleanser with bleach! I hate that stuff. This can had been in the house from way before James and I were married! Probably at least 6 yrs! It must've been under his sink in the bathroom or mine. Sometimes we take the baby proof locks off so we can actually get in the cabinets! I guess it didn't get put back on! Anyway, Annabelle and Cade had emptied the entire can all over the hardwood floors and the rug! You couldn't see the floor anywhere in a huge square in the foyer by the front door! She and Cade were light green! It was on the walls, everywhere! I was wiping around their mouths to make sure it hadn't gotten in, but it was all over their cheeks, in their hair..agh! I have taught them how to use their stools and wash their hands in the bathroom sink, so I turned the water on really light and told them to go wash their hands. I knew playing in the water would occupy them so that I could come up with a disaster recovery plan.  Poor little Annabelle has little clammy feet and everywhere she and Cade had stepped had pressed the comet down hard on the floor. It wasn't just lightly sitting on the floor. I grabbed the vacuum cleaner and used the brush attachment to try to get most of it up! Oh my goodness! There was no way I could be in two places at once! I had to get it off the babies skin, ( they can't even tolerate any laundry detergent except Dreft) so I left the mess and got them to my bath tub! I washed them head to toe and then they squealed because I wouldn't let them stay in and play very long! I was worried about getting that stuff off the hardwoods too!  I tried to use whatever dry cloths I could to get it up without adding any water! I'm sure the bleach part of it will activate once its wet! I'm not sure how its going to all pan out, James says it has a white film all over it! I'll have to break down and mop it tomorrow during nap time! Sheez!

I did finally get back to cooking dinner and as a final afterthought, I threw a steamer bag of green beans in the microwave! It started squealing like a siren. The twins flipped! Cade started running around saying, Uh oh, uh oh!! ( hope thats not an occurance in his teenage years to come)! Annabelle was startled and clingy! Oh my, all that for an extra vegetable!

Meanwhile, that little pumpkin discovered her feet while sitting in her swing! ( I felt just terrible that she had been in it for so long, through that whole ordeal!) and she never cried once! She was just having fun playing with her toes! That wasn't supposed to happen for a while too! Yipee! She's so great! Got a pic of that too!

Before I knew it, Cade sat on the floor in front of Abigail's swing and Annabelle pushed really hard on the swing while she was standing behind it! As you can imagine Cade came up with the short end of the stick. She busted his little lip. It was bleeding and he was crying and squealing! oh my!
Whew! Dinner was great and we were able to laugh a bit about it all! I will say I was relieved when it was 7:30 and we tucked those precious little stinker twins in bed! I'm convinced God gives twins a wonderful bond and the ability to identify their unique strengths quickly and they use that so they can plot on their unsuspecting parents! Wow, what two can do! I love them so much......and it's a good thing!

I sat down to download all the funny pics from my camera and wouldn't you know, the computer told me there were no images on the card! WHAT? After all I went through, I don't even get funny pics? Don't worry, after trying a few times, it read them! I now have proof of what these monkeys do..and of course I'll be so happy to remind them and all their friends someday!

ha ha! Think I need sleep! I get to start this all over tomorrow! ( and of course, wouldn't trade it for the world) Love to all! Good night!

Hot Monday!

Today was just plain hot!! It's terribly hard to get in the fall mood with 85+ degree days! It was a great day with all the children! Sunday night when I crawled into bed, I cherished the thought of all of them being tucked in with us in the house. Darby was in from BAMA for the night and it was just wonderful! Today, she got to hold Abigail during a mutual nap and help feed the twins lunch! She seemed to be quite entertained by watching all their latest funny ways of interacting and "talking"!

James does believe Annabelle speaks some foreign language resembling Chinese! LOL! Some words are so clear and then she has this little continual language that none of us understand! However she looks at us like we should! She has started needing every little boo boo kissed! Even if she just barely bumps her hand, she brings it to us and wants kisses. The humorous part is that she's making swaky/smacking noises as we are kissing it! I guess she's helping out with the kissing! She is still forever helping with Abigail! She tried today to get a hair bow in her hair over and over again! I had to make sure it stayed in all day to please her. Cade walked up and said, "bow" perfectly! Its one of his new words! He is really picking them up..usually one or two a week. Anything Annabelle masters, he shortly grasps.

Darby found it humorous when Annabelle went to hang out by the french doors in the den and got really still. I asked her if she knew that Annabelle was making a dirty diaper? She snickered at the funny expression on her little face! (bulging eyes, red cheeks, etc, ha ha) Anyway, Annabelle quickly finished and before she took a single step, reached down and grabbed her diaper saying, "yucky, yucky"! She wanted out of it right then! Sheez! She's such a little stinker..really!

She also now knows how the steam cleaner operates. She watched me use it today in the bedroom intently! I would tell her we needed more water and she would start saying, "wa wa" and watch me dump the old water and get new water, and really enjoyed putting her hands in the soapy water as I poured it in the machine! She watched me press every button to make it operate. I can't wait until she can actually use it! :) Her little socks were soaking wet but there was no stopping her from making every step I did! Cade sat on the bed and watched from afar while enjoying his savory thumb!

We giggled at little Cade a bit too! The more tired he gets, the more he stumbles around, barley missing impact with objects that could really hurt him. We gasped, but somehow he seemed to miss them at just the last second! He wouldn't dare stay still for fear he might fall asleep!  His current favorite toy is his remote control for his ceiling fan and light! He pressed on it the other day for at least 15 minutes saying, "on, off", on, off" - his versions aren't all that clear, but you can tell that's what he's trying to say! It is really amazing how much males love a remote and how early it starts! Annabelle couldn't care less about it! He sometimes just shakes all over, smiles, and says "oh oh" as if it gives him ultimate power over the universe (which of course is his room) :) Funny little guy! The buttons on the dishwasher are a close second! Thank goodness the touch screen has a button lock, but no such luck with the fridge water dispenser. Can't wait until he can reach that. Annabelle already goes to it with her sippy cup and says wa wa, so I'm sure it wont be long!

He also decided to be brave today and get into a tug-of-war game with the yorkie, Macy! Macy has secret defenses..such as obsessive mouth kissing during which Cade just closes his eyes and mouth and hangs on! Gross! Anyway, he grabbed some clean laundry I was folding and the two of them went at it! Macy loves to shake her head back and forth with the hand towel and he belly laughs over it while trying to hold his end! She won today for sure! She really gets him when she starts licking his toes! Don't think I could take that either!

The twins played together a lot today! It's so great to hear their little giggles! Every now and then they still do want the same toy, or sippy cup, but it doesn't last long! It was hard for Darby to leave, and it makes me blue too! I'm still waiting on a text to say she made it safely....ahem, and she should've made it back by 5pm Alabama time! ( hint hint Darby)

Abigail was as sweet as ever! That baby is pure love! I can't get enough of her little pudgy legs and dimpled fingers! I just kiss on her all the time. I'm going to get in as many as I can while she's little!..okay, and probably for her whole life even when she's grown! Just ask Darby!

I have tried some baby food with her! Bless that little tongue, it is so hard to get past! She squinted horribly from the apples the other day ( as if I had stuck a sour tart in her mouth) so I switched to bananas! She still squints, but not as badly! Silly little thing! She still enjoys sitting in her exersaucer, but mostly she just wants to be where everyone is! At dinner she sits in her bouncy seat on the table so she can see everyone! She's quite content there!

Shane didn't feel all that great today, and wound up coming home form school early. Hopefully tomorrow will be better! Hate it when any of them get sick! Especially when it can mean that all of them get sick!

My poor husband drove all over for work today it sounds like! He was pooped when he got home but still somehow had enough energy to wrestle and feed the twins! Don't know how he does it after the stressful days he can have! Every part of me feels lighter when I hear him come in the door. Its as if my brain sends all these messages like, "whew, I'm not outnumbered anymore! There's hope :)! "they will be chasing him for a while" LOL!...and I might actually be able to go to the bathroom by myself! ha ha! I wouldn't trade my days for the world, but the weekends are wonderful when there are two of us to to handle it all!

I'm sure the week will be a fun one! Love to all!

pumpkins for our little pumpkins!

Today was a hot Georgia day at the pumpkin patch! (85 degrees) Whew! The apple cider was on ice by the long line for the hayrides! I had memories of hot cider and warmer clothes from the long ago days when I took Darby to get pumpkins! Very different! James was so wonderful to find the energy to take our traveling show out in the heat and crowds, during college football, to let us all have fun and make memories!! :) Our little ones were taking in everything! They were too small for the pony rides and the facepainting, but they seemed to enjoy everything else!  They really enjoyed seeing a calf, goats, chickens and a turkey! Think its definitely time for a zoo trip! Cade enjoyed sitting on an old tractor but wanted it to "go"! Thats what we get for having him ride on Papa's John Deere out in Alabama!  Annabelle was wide eyed and watching the people as much as the animals and pumpkins! We never dreamed there would be such a crowd! Lots of little ones everywhere!  The hayride was fun! It lulled Abigail to sleep! She was so great..she never cried the whole time in the hot sun! Of course, she hardly ever cries anyway! Little angel!

When we got to the field with all the pumpkins, the twins had fun walking all over the place! They did intently watch all the other children and parents. It was neat to see Cade once again be a little more social than Annabelle. Everytime I think I have their personalities figured out, they surprise me! I always thought she would be faster than he to approach kids. We figured they were pretty worn out and we finally made it back to the truck! We hadn't been on the road for 3 minutes and they both were sound asleep! Guess it took a lot out of them and those little legs to run around that much!  Mommy and Daddy could've used a nap too!

We had a good week! Abigail got a pretty good check up from the urologist on Tuesday! He is going to have her live on antibiotics for the next year to see if her kidney reflux will resolve without a procedure. Stage 3 typically does not, but they are all so amazed by how well she has been developing that they want to give her a chance. We are thrilled that is the only issue she has had so far! We sure are busy now, but I wouldn't want to go a day without her beautiful little smile! What a gift!

Cade emptied the water out of the guest toilet again this week! I can't figure out how his hand is so small and yet he can get water on the walls, floor, himself, everywhere! It's like he had a cup and was hurling water over his shoulder! Sheez! To make matters worse, I only have myself to blame for leaving the bathroom door open! Pooh :( Hate it when its my fault! :)

My most humorous story this week probably occured with my 16yr old! Shane is such a sharp dresser! He usually wears khaki's and a dress shirt/golf shirt or sweater vest to school..sometimes a tie even! Anyway, Thursday morning he came downstairs with suspenders on with a white dress shirt and khaki's.  His shoes didn't seem to match and the suspenders pulled his pants up a bit too high. He had a bow tie on and I have to say, he just looked like a nerd! I couldn't believe how he looked when morning after morning he always put everything together so well! I took a breath and wanted to choose my words wisely so that I didn't hurt his feelings, but I just couldn't let him go to school like that! I had to take him in early for a FBLA meeting, so I didn't have much time. He asked me what I thought of this outfit. I said I liked the suspenders since he had never worn them before..but I couldn't figure out why but something just didn't seem to work about it all. I finally figured out and told him that I had only seen my dad or James wear suspenders with suit pants and not with khaki's. Maybe that was the trouble. Slowly....I talked gently about each thing until he took one piece at a time off of him (thank goodness) although he was getting a little aggravated. He was a little quiet on our ride at first. He commented that after all the modifications, that he now looked like he did everyday. I told him that I knew it was fun to sometimes try new things and take it up a notch, but maybe he could ask James or check out GQ to see how certain things were worn before he wore them to school..(thought that was pretty diplomatic) We were getting close to school and I couldn't help but think what a good job I had done of sparing him horrible ridicule ...when he totally burst my bubble. In his conversation he pondered what one of his friends would be wearing for Nerd Day today....( my mouth dropped) ..ooops! I knew it was homecoming week and that Nerd Day was coming up. What was I thinking...He was TRYING to look like a nerd! Oh my! No wonder he was a bit frustrated. I quickly told him I was so sorry, I had forgotten. He then looked at me as if to say, "oh woman, do you have so little faith in me to be able to dress myself after you've seen what a great job I do daily... Do you honeslty think I would intentionally leave the house like that on a normal day!". I felt myself shrinking down in the seat! I laughed and told him I would go home and get anything he wanted and bring it back to school. He is so wonderful...he just told me not to worry about it and still gave me a little love goodbye! I love that kid!  I think he enjoyed Homecoming, so it all worked out!

Darby blew into town Thursday for about 30 minutes before heading off to Disney World..We had to get the car from her as the emissions were due. She got to hold Abigail for a minute and peek in on the twins sleeping. It was so good to see her! She amazes me.. I just hate that I get so little time with her. Tis the season in her life and in mine. Like I've mentioned before..its quite interesting to have young adults and children at such different ages.  Makes life great though! Hopefully we will get to see her Sunday night before she heads back to Tuscaloosa! I'm sure she won't be thrilled after today's game against South Carolina! ouch! oh well! Roll Tide!

Love to all!
(Sorry that I've been remiss in blogging..it won't happen again.. (Daddy,wink).. good to talk to you today)