The Wallace Bunch

Close Call

2011-03-07T12:03:00.004-06:00

This morning, I decided I needed to run some errands. Usually, I have my days planned out and I can get ready before the girls wake up. This just makes for a smooth morning, before we head out the door. But since I decided this morning that I needed to get out of the house, I was left showering and getting ready while the girls were running around. I had them on the couch watching cartoons and eating cereal while I was in the shower. When I was about finished, they both came in the bathroom and started getting into things. I quickly dried my hair and said "lets go eat breakfast". I walked into the kitchen and started making oatmeal, Ashlyn was close behind. Addison didn't come, but she has this very weird fascination with tooth brushes, so I figured she was still in the bathroom hunting either mine or Ryan's toothbrush! A few minutes later, she comes in the kitchen and I put them both at the table and feed them their breakfast. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. I'm in my pajamas, with no make up...so I'm hiding and peeking around the corner to see who it could be. Its a surveyor or salesman...I didn't bother getting it and I even cussed at him(under my breath) for knocking on someones door so early in the morning. BUT, while I was in the entry way I heard a strange sound off in the distance. It sounded like water running. I listened for a minute and suddenly I realized EXACTLY what it was. My heart skipped a beat and I got sick to my stomach. Addi had turned on the bathtub faucet and left it running. Normally, not a problem except that we keep the drain closed because our dog gets up in the night and always jumps in the tub to get a drink!! We keep it closed so that I don't have to get up and turn the water on for her!! So I run in the bathroom and literally, the water was within a centimeter from overflowing the tub!!!! It was at the very brim of the tub, about to splash down onto the entire bathroom!!! What made it even funnier was that Addi had also emptied out a drawer into the tub before she filled it up! There was teeth whitener packages and some exfoliating cream floating in the water!! It was a very close call. I got lucky and I've learned my lesson about keeping that stupid drain closed! I guess my dog will have to learn how to drink out of a water bowl, just like other dogs! Now, I feel bad for calling the stranger that knocked on our door the name I called him. Thank goodness for him or else I would've had a BIG mess on my hands!! And thank goodness our jacuzzi tub is so big that it takes a full 15 minutes to fill up! Now I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to explain the increased water bill to Ryan!!

Trail Dust

2011-02-10T22:10:00.003-06:00

Tonight, Ryan decided that he wanted to take the girls to Trail Dust for the first time. Right now, its rare that we go out because the girls are at that stage where they scream and try to crawl out of their highchair. They don't understand discipline yet, so it just easier to stay home. We weren't brave enough to try it alone, so we took my parents for an extra set of hands. The reason we chose Trail Dust is because of the slide and the live music. We thought there would be enough distractions to keep the girls occupied long enough to let us eat. Well, THEY LOVED IT! We were basically the only people in there. The girls had the slide all to themselves. I'm not going to lie...going down that 2 story slide made my stomach turn a little bit!! Addison was a little scared. She would get stiff and have a scared look on her face when she was going down. Ashlyn, loved it. She couldn't get enough. I bet I went on that thing 25 times! After dinner, the dance floor was empty, so we let them run around a little bit. Ashlyn climbed up on stage and danced. Addison was spinning and twirling when I sang the "hot dog" song, from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!! Here are a couple of pictures.
Going down with both girls. Addi, all tensed up and Ashlyn smiling from ear to ear!

Ashlyn

Addison, scared for her life!

Our Lives, Since September(2010)

2011-02-05T22:46:00.003-06:00

Ok, so a lot has happened since I last blogged. Obviously the girls are growing like weeds, but there has been a lot of changes in our personal lives as well. For those of you who know us very well, you know that our main income as a married couple comes from Ryan. What I made off of the tanning salon was just extra spending money for me. So, what pays all the bills and what goes into savings is all made off of Ryan's income. All of this is leading to a point...let me start from the beginning.
Its hard to justify leaving a company that was as great as the company he was with. But some things came to our attention that we didn't agree with, some changes were made with the company, and we ultimately had to make the decision to leave or stay. **Let me interrupt here and mention that I sold my tanning salon in November, so I am officially a stay at home mom. The income that I made(that was once my "fun money" is now gone.) Going back now, to what I mentioned before about Ryan's income. We are now relying on 100% on what he makes. So, making the decision to leave his company was a scary thought. Because of a non-compete clause he signed, he cannot bring over any of his current clients. So he would be starting from nothing, with no leads, basically he would be as low as you can get. Long story short, we took a trip to Las Vegas in early October. We discussed in great detail the pros and cons of him leaving. Being that we were away from home, we were in a place where our decision couldn't be swayed by anyone or anything. We felt like we could really give it a heartfelt-go with your gut-decision. On October 28th, he put in his letter of resignation. He was officially unemployed. We already had a plan for what we were going to do, and we immediately started working on it. We signed a lease on a little office down the street from our house. It took a long time, but by the end of December, we were officially our own financial firm--Wallace Wealth Management. He does everything from financial planning to all kinds of investments(mutual funds, IRAs, etc). He is currently studying for his series 7 test, which will allow him to sell stocks and bonds and trade within the stock market. He takes that test on Valentines Day. So, things are actually great and I feel 150% that we made the right decision. It makes me laugh now, looking back, at how scared we were...I've always believed that things happen for a reason.

Back to the tanning salon. Many of you know that we had been trying to sell it for a long time. After I had the twins, I just didn't have the time to dedicate to it anymore. Business had gone down over that first year, because I was never there, and I think that effected business. Ultimately, I had to make the decision to let it go. It was a sad day, but a happy day, all wrapped up in one. It was a relief, to not have that extra stress of a bed breaking or the computer crashing or an employee calling in sick. I could just stay home and focus on the girls. We sold it to a great guy, that we have known for years. He actually owned a salon in Burleson, years ago. One scary thing is that I had just resigned the lease a year before it sold. My lease isn't up until November 2012. So, if for some reason the new owner should default on the lease, I become responsible for it again. So there still is the stress of thinking that COULD come back on me. But I feel like the new owner will grow it back to what it was, since he can devote the time into it that I couldn't anymore. All in all, I feel comfortable with the sale.

Ok! On to the girls! They are 19 months old, today! They are running all over the place and learning new words everyday! It is so much fun watching them play and dance and play dressup. They keep me busy...without a doubt! Addison is slowly but surely getting some hair! Ashlyn's hair is growing really long, but I just cut it shorter so that there wouldn't be such a huge hairstyle difference between the two. I'm trying to give Addi a chance to catch up!
Their latest stats from the doctor(this was over a month ago):
Addison- 23.3 pounds and 32 1/4 height...thats 40% and 70%(maybe she will be tall and skinny?!?)
Ashlyn- 18.9 pounds and 30 1/2 height...thats < 3% and 20%. Yes, she is still tiny. She isn't even on the chart for the normal growth curve, but she is on her own curve, so the doctor says we are doing ok.

There are so many pictures I could upload, so I will just do several from over the last couple of weeks.....well once again after trying 3 times to upload pictures, it won't let me. Hence the reason I stopped blogging! So, if you want to see the pictures, you can go to www.paigepo816.photoshop.com and look at a slideshow of the different things we have done over the last couple of weeks. Once you are at the page, click on the album and then click slideshow.

REALLY, September?!?

2011-02-05T17:06:00.002-06:00

I just checked my blog for the first time in months. I decided to look at my latest post and I realized it was in September!! I know that all the pictures I post on my blog are also on my facebook page, but GEEZ, the girls don't even look like that anymore!! SO, I think tonight after the girls go to bed I am going to upload some pictures from our snow adventures this week. I just haven't had the time to blog lately. And I take so many pictures that it takes forever to upload them to my page....so it makes me not want to do it. But, I think I have a (late) new year's resolution--to keep up with my blog! So, check back later!

A surprise bath

2010-09-12T19:47:00.002-05:00

Today Ryan and I have been laying low. Its a Sunday and its the 1st cowboys game of the season. I have been working on some stuff on the computer and baking cupcakes. He has been laying on the couch doing absolutely nothing!! We had the girls in the playroom, playing and taking care of themselves for maybe 10 or 15 minutes. Ryan realized it was unusually quiet in there so he got up to go see what was going on. Over the monitor, I hear him say "OH MY GOSH!!!!" I knew to grab my video camera and come running!! Somehow the girls climbed into the bathtub and turned on the water. Luckily the drain was open, so the water wasn't high enough to drown them! They were just in there(pajamas and all) playing with their bath toys and splashing in the water! It was cute and funny, but it left for a mess to clean up!! I guess we weren't as baby proofed as we thought around our house!! I didn't take any photos, but I did get some video....its on my facebook page.

On another note, I need some motivation. We had a trip planned to San Diego at the end of August that ended up falling through. But I had been working out really hard with my goal of looking good in San Diego. But now that I don't have a goal in sight, I've lost all motivation for working out. I have gained 2 pounds back(I know that isn't much but on a 5'1'' person its noticeable). All I do now is sit around and eat cupcakes and bean burritos! We had talked about going to the Breeders Cup in November...its in Kentucky. But that's not really worth busting my tail to get into really good shape. I considered doing a figure competition in October, but then this cupcake stuff came into play(long story, I will tell it in a sec) and I have little events here and there that will force me to eat bad in October...so I knew that would blow any chance of my placing. So again, whats the point? I'm in a rut and can't dig myself out!

About this cupcake stuff. I've gotten addicted to Cupcake Wars on Food Network and Cupcake Girls on another channel. It seems like lately all I can think about are stupid cupcakes! I stay up at night thinking about different flavors...its consuming my life! So, I got the wild idea to start a cupcake business...which is silly because I know nothing about making cupcakes!! I researched tons of recipes, frostings, flavors, etc. I've got 20 flavors on my list and I am in the process of testing them all. So far I've only made 4 flavors**that goes back to the 2 pounds I've gained. So I figure at this rate I will gain 8 more pounds before this is all said and done!!! EEEEEEEK. Honestly, I probably won't ever do anything with my cupcake business...I'm just blowing hot air!! And where would I even find the time?!? I'm just dreaming! Therefore, I should stop wasting my time and money...right?

Our first visit to a park

2010-09-12T15:38:00.009-05:00

Since the girls have been able to walk, its been too hot to go outside. I never realized they have never been to a public park! We went to our friend Brennon's 4th birthday party(which was at Kimmel Park in Midlothian) and had the best time EVER!! I brought along our wagon and a ball to keep the girls entertained because I didn't figure they would have a "baby" play area. But when we got there I saw an entire jungle gym designated for toddlers...and it was completely on the other side of the park from the big kid jungle gym!! Ashlyn especially had a good time. Addison, ms. careful, was very hesitant to do the stuff her sister was doing but she had a good time in her own way! We ate pizza, had cake and played until we were sweaty and dirty! The best thing about it was that they took a 3 hour nap afterwards!!
Looking through the glass window(which had gang writing on it)with Ashlyn.
Erin and Ashlyn went swinging.
Helping her climb the block steps
Daddy with his 2 girls, a wagon, a pink ball strolling through the park!!!
Ashlyn was on a mission to get to that playground and she wouldn't have it any other way!
About to have a slide race
Addi getting the guts up to go down the tunnel slide
she loved it and tried to climb back up!!
Ashlyn probably ate some dirt. I'm not sure WHAT she is doing!
Addison's turn to look through the glass window!
Asher going down the twirly slide by herself
Brennon and his new T-Rex
Ashlyn crawling through the tunnel
Getting a sip of apple juice through the tunnel!!
Ashlyn getting some help from her mommy while climbing UP the slide!
My dad supervising Ashlyn climbing up the curved ladder.

UH OH...could this be the start of something?

2010-09-08T22:52:00.003-05:00

Almost every time I run into an old friend or someone that I talk about the twins to, the first question out of their mouths are "do you plan on having more kids"? I usually respond as nice as I possibly can by saying (politely)NO....when in my mind I'm thinking, "are you insane?!? Do you have any idea what it was like carrying two babies? Staying up all night? Dealing with them while my husband works 24/7?"

For selfish reasons, I don't want anymore kids. I am finally getting my body back. I have been busting my butt to get to my goal weight(115) and I am finally there after 3 months of working out 2 to 3 times a day and dieting like crazy. My body fat is less than 9% and I've worked SO hard for that! What if I had another baby and my boobs got even saggier or my belly got even more extra skin?!? Its just a risk I'm not sure I am willing to take. On the other hand, IF....IF we did have another baby, I almost wish it could be another multiple pregnancy. I figure, its so rare that twins happen, so why not have 2 sets...or triplets? Yes, it would be very hard but to me its the rarity of it. BUT AGAIN, I DON'T WANT TO BE THE MOM THAT HAS TO CARRY THOSE TWINS OR TRIPLETS!!!!

Ok, the point to my story is...as long as I've been saying there is no chance that I will ever have another baby, something happened today. I found out a friend of mine is pregnant with her second baby(Hayley, I'm talking about you) and I suddenly got that kind of jealous, sad feeling that I used to get BEFORE I got pregnant and I found out other friends were pregnant. I have not felt that feeling ever since I've had the girls. Even when I held a sweet little newborn, I can remember thinking I am so glad we were past that point and NEVER AGAIN will I be there! SO, could this be the start of baby fever? Oh, geez I hope not....I'm going to fight this with everything in my power. I'm hoping by writing about this, some of my mom friends will persuade me to NOT get the dreaded fever and cheer me on in my fight against it!!! Until we know whether or not the battle has been won, I will continue taking my birth control pills as if my life depended on it(it kind of does!!). If I lose this battle, I will still wait at least another year before I get pregnant again though...so nobody get your hopes up!

a tea party and dress up

2010-08-21T23:11:00.007-05:00

We have a garden themed playroom for the girls. For Christmas last year, my mom got them a big flower table for when they are a little older. The other day I decided I would let them sit in the "big girl" chairs at their table for the first time. We got out our tea set and had our first tea party! They enjoyed it for a few minutes and then they lost interest and move on to the next activity.
Prim and Proper little girls....
until one of them starts to table dance!!!

I have been having a problem finding shoes to fit their feet. They both have such pudgy feet on top that they won't fit into a shoe. So, I have been shopping like crazy trying to find them some new shoes. I hit the jackpot at Walmart and Target and I stocked up on their Fall shoes. I got a total of 5 pairs(10 pairs actually!!) When we got home, my parents came over to visit and I felt the need to put on a fashion show and let them model our new shoes. Remember how much Ashlyn likes to prance and dance around? She picked up a tu-tu from her dress up chest and grabbed another hair bow to put in her hair. She was all dressed and ready to show off. It was the cutest thing ever. I think we are going to have ourselves a diva when she gets a little older! Addi likes to dress up too, but she doesn't show off quite the way Ashlyn does. These are all pictures from the show.
Addison in her winter boots, a tu-tu and holding her favorite book!!
Ashlyn spinning a twirling...so pleased with herself!
Dancing with Mrs. Kangaroo
More spinning.....More twirling!!
Addison dancing around so happy!
UH OH...Addison all decked out in girly clothes while she is playing with a car!!! She better not turn into a tom-boy!!!
Ashlyn determined to climb into her wagon. Its actually a wagon for Lego blocks....but she gets in it and we pull her around the house!

Ashlyn's first ponytail

2010-08-21T23:07:00.004-05:00

We are finally able to put Ashlyn's hair in a ponytail....well in half a ponytail!! She loves to have her hair fixed and asks to be put on the counter to have her hair brushed. I think she is going to be a girly girl for sure!!

Naked Monday

2010-08-21T23:00:00.003-05:00

One hot Monday, we went outside and played in the backyard. I knew it was hot but I didn't realize how quickly the girls could get overheated. We only lasted about 15 minutes but when we came in I noticed their faces were flushed and they were sweaty and dehydrated. The only thing I could think to do was give them juice and strip them down to let them cool off!!! One day they will kill me for posting this...but how can I resist showing off these cute little tushes?!?
Ashlyn
Addison

4th of July and lots of birthday parties

2010-08-21T22:36:00.006-05:00

Addison and Ashlyn's birthday was July 5th. We had their party on the 3rd and we had family come into town on the 4th....so we actually had 3 celebrations for their birthday! They didn't mind at all. They got to do a smash cupcake for every party. By the 3rd celebration, they were old pros!! We didn't do anything for the 4th of July this year. Our normal party in Burleson got cancelled and we didn't realize that Lake Arlington had moved their fireworks to downtown, so we missed that as well. We decided to buy some giant sparklers and do those in the driveway. The girls could've cared less...it was more for our amusement.
playing in our new shopping cart.
Addison ready for the party
After pitching a fit...we are ready to go.
cupcakes at our 2nd party
"are you going to eat yours sister?!?"
cupcake face!!
my beautiful girls....I'm such a lucky mommy
balloon party. On their actual birthday I gave them all the leftover balloons from their birthday party. They had so much fun playing in them.
baby wrestling!
Yet another birthday celebration!!

This year, the 4th of July was special because it marked 1 year ago that the girls made their arrival(6 weeks early). In 2009, we did our typical fireworks party in Burleson and we went home. I went to bed--Ryan passed out on the couch. I woke up at about 1:45am for one of my many middle of the night bathroom breaks and I thought I had wet the bed. Upon further investigation I realized my water broke!! We raced to the hospital and I waited about 5 hours for my c-section. It all went very smooth and I never even felt a contraction!! BUT FOR THOSE WHO ARE WONDERING....NO I DO NOT WANT TO HAVE ANY MORE KIDS!! LOL, it wasn't THAT smooth. I hated being pregnant and I was so relieved when the process was over!! Ryan says he would like to try someday for a boy, but I just can't imagine ever having to go through all that again. Plus the chance we could have twins again...or what if we had another girl(or 2) and he wanted to try AGAIN for a boy. In my opinion, there are no guarantees on the sex of a baby, so why risk having more kids?!?

Let me backtrack

2010-08-19T10:26:00.011-05:00

I don't know what has gotten into me. Either I have gotten so busy that I forget about blogging or I've just lost interest. One way or another, I need to catch up. So I am going to do several different posts of some of the important things that have happened since June 20th(the date of my last blog). Lets start with........their birthday party.

The girls turned 1 on July 5th. We had their "garden" party on the 3rd. I planned on having it in the backyard. I had umbrella tables rented, tents ready to set up....all in hopes of shading and protecting the guests from the blazing summer sun. But the weather had different plans. There was a tropical storm that hit the gulf that week and it rained everyday...for 5 days. So, I had to change everything. I called the rental company and changed the order from umbrella tables to regular tables, I had to change the number of chairs I was renting....it was a mess! We moved the party inside. It was crowded to say the least. Almost 50 people in our house, with tables and chairs and lots of babies. There was hardly any room to move. Everything went great though--and after all the changing and moving, it didn't even rain!! We waited too long between eating and opening gifts and the girls had an emotional meltdown during their gift opening. We blew threw that so quick, I didn't even remember who gave what. Thankfully my mom wrote everything down. My friend Carlie came and took pictures and they turned out great...I was so happy that I didn't have to worry about getting good shots while entertaining all the guests. Here are some of my favorite pictures of the day(in random order):
some of the 70 flower pinwheels(I know I went a little overboard, but they were on sale!) I bought for the outside decorations. They lined all the flowerbeds.

This is the butterfly pinata that we ended up not busting because we assumed the weather would be too rainy to go outside. We have it saved for another year...

Addison being shy and playing peek-a-boo

some of the tables
our garden themed cake!!
little Ashlyn, the social butterfly!
opening presents

smash cake
Addison

party favors
Addison eating cake
Ashlyn eating cake
Ashlyn was SO intrigued by that candle!!
"Is this okay, sister?"

The craziness continues

2010-06-20T14:23:00.007-05:00

I have completely forgotten about blogging in the past few weeks. It has been a crazy start to the summer to say the least! Ashlyn is now walking, Addison is not too far behind. We are teething(which has NOT been fun). They each have 4 teeth now. We are lowering our matresses to the lowest setting and getting rid of our mobiles. Attempting to babyproof all the cabinets(is well worth the money spent to have a professional come do it). I can't count how many fingers have been slammed in doors or drawers! The girls are growing up FAST!! I am realizing now that I'm about to have 2 toddlers on my hands! I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I am currently planning the girls birthday party, which is July 3rd. Things are just busy! This will be a short post...because I've only got a limited period of time before all hell breaks loose in the other room!!! We have gone swimming several times....each time its getting better. Addison was kind of afraid the first time and just wanted to be held. We have learned that she does better in shallow water than floating in a raft in deep water(how she knows the difference I'm not sure). We have had a couple of playdates with new friends. We bought a "starter" swingset and put it together. Gosh, we've just been on the go for weeks! Here are some pictures of some fun things we have done. These are in NO order....
Ashlyn sitting in the grass for the first time ever. We didn't get a picture of Addison because she freaked out anytime she touched the ground!!

Ashlyn walking in the shallow pool. She was so proud of herself!

Addison liked licking the water off her own face!

Addison's first time in the pool(Memorial Day). I had to hold her the entire time.

Playing in the splash pool....WATCH OUT ADDI!
SQUIRT IN THE FACE!!

Playing in the fridge...their new favorite thing to do!

We went to a car show and found this GIANT dog. This picture doesn't do it justice....it was HUGE!!!

Addison has wrinkly feet after swimming!

Addi enjoyed looking at the water drops on her float more than anything else!

Crazy Ashlyn just wanted to get out and swim and splash!!!

Busy Busy Twinkies!

2010-05-11T16:05:00.006-05:00

Its been over a month since I last blogged. It's really no excuse, but with 2 crawling babies I never seem to have time to sit down and relax! In the last month, we have had our 9 month checkup, gotten teeth, learned to crawl and pull up, and the girls are just into EVERYTHING!!

I will start first with their 9 month checkup(although they are 10 months now). The appointment was on April 5th.
Addison: 26 3/4 long and weighed 16 LB, 14 OZ. She is maintaining in the 20-25%

Ashlyn: 25 3/4 long and weighed 14 LB, 4 OZ. She is maintaining in the less than 3% YES, that's LESS than 3%. She is just going to be a tiny little runt!

Both girls now have their bottom 2 teeth. Addison got hers several weeks before Ashlyn did. Now I think Addison is working on her top 2 teeth, so hopefully soon she will have more. They are eating everything in sight. I have never heard babies make so much noise while begging for food...MY FOOD and anyone else's food who is within feeding range!! They scream, squawk, grunt, and bounce in their highchairs until you feed them. They eat everything from cucumbers to steak and shrimp to double decker tacos and bea burritos!! THEY LOVE FOOD!!!

They are now both crawling. Ashlyn started first, as well as pulling up first. Addison is now doing both too. They follow each other around the house, getting into trouble. Their favorite things to do are swing on the drapes in the living room, pull moss out of our potted tree, get into Claire's dog dishes, get into the pantry and play with cat food cans and 2 liter coke bottles, and eat remote controls and phones!! I'm not kidding when I tell you it is CRAAAAAZY around here!! But this has been my favorite stage so far!

They both can say certain words, but they don't say them in the right context. I think they just say them to SAY them! Ashlyn has the biggest vocab...she says: dada, baba, mama, nana. Addison only says baba. But Addison talks with such enthusiasm. She will talk like she is speaking a sentence, with different tones for each baba she says! Its cute! As far as their development, I think they are probably behind on verbal skills. But for preemies, that is supposed to happen and they tell me not to worry just yet.

Here are a TON of pictures of the highlights of the last several weeks. Some of these will show just how rambunctious these two little girls are!
playing with the drapes. Addi looks so sneaky and sweet, but don't let her fool you!

Ashlyn leaving the scene of the "drive by mossing". She heard me yell and she got out of there so I couldn't prove she did it!!

splashing in the pool

sunglasses...a HUGE waste of money!

Addison singing in the microphone

Playing on the air hockey table is fun....
trying to catch the pucks is even MORE fun!

The new sound around our house is "DOOOOOOOIIIIIINNNNNGGGG"! The sound of the springy doorstop thing. This was their first time discovering this annoying toy!

Hanging out with Daddy upstairs in the gameroom. Spinning in the swivel chair is lots of fun!

Playing cops and robbers....Addi was the robber and Ashlyn threw her in jail!!

Addison's cheese face!! This is what I come in and see after every nap or good night's sleep! It makes my day!!

Ashlyn is learning to climb things. I think she will be a big climber...I caught her climbing the baby gate the other day. She was up about 4 or 5 inches off the ground....like a little monkey! In this picture she is standing on her crib bumper, trying to get a little higher!!

Ashlyn splashing on the dishwasher

Helping Daddy with dishes

Addison found the dog's water bowl...if you look at the placemat you can see how much water she had spilled. What you can't see is how SHE was soaked as well!!

Ashlyn's cheese face....anything will make this girl smile!!

CHEEESE!!

Another funny face from Addi.

Professional Pictures

2010-03-31T21:29:00.005-05:00

After rescheduling twice we finally got our (supposed to be) 8 month pictures done. Although, now its a week away from their 9 month birthday!! Between us getting the stomach bug and the weather being rainy or cold, we just couldn't seem to catch it on a good day. But we decided that it was sunny enough to take their pictures last week...even though it was VERY windy! Addison was a trooper, but Ashlyn literally cried the entire time. I don't think we got one good shot of her. If she wasn't crying in a picture, then her nose and eyes were red because she HAD been crying! Nothing made her happy, except when we fed her.....see the previous post on the past photo shoots. My friend Carlie did the pictures. She is starting up her own photography business, so we were one of her first shoots. I think she did great and I am very happy with how things turned out. I think she has a lot of potential and I hope her business takes off....I know we will probably be returning customers! So here are a few of my favorite pictures...this is only about half of them!

Birthday and a Bar-B-Que

2010-03-31T20:24:00.006-05:00

We went to my cousin's 1st birthday party and the girls had a really good time! We got stuck in traffic on the way, and the trip turned into over an hour so I totally expected them to be awful by the time we got there. They ate hot dogs and cupcakes and enjoyed the balloons and party blowers that were there...which is good because I recently bought both for their 1st birthday!!
Addison and Pierce, the birthday boy!

Addison trying to figure out how to blow in the party blower!

She was so excited over the balloon, she was screeching

Little party animals

"it goes something like this???"

Addison in her party hat....I thought she looked more like the Travelocity gnome!!

Ashlyn chowing down on some cupcake!

Our balloon hat!

They played with them for days!!

We also had a bar-b-que at our friend Eric and Carla's house. Supercross was here for the weekend, which meant that Ryan's racing buddies were also in town. We enjoyed getting out(even if it WAS with the babies) and spending time with friends that we don't get to see very often. It was also the first time that the girls really interacted with other kids. Ashlyn really took a liking to Keegan("the older man") and he really liked her too! Addison just enjoyed sitting around and eating. In fact, they both ate like PIGS. They had shrimp, quesadilla with cheese, fruit salad, beef, baked potato, plus all of their baby food and bottles that I brought for the evening!!!
Brayden

Keegan and Addison

Ashlyn and Keegan

The girls and Leo just hanging out!

Photoshoot part 2

2010-03-31T20:15:00.003-05:00

So because of the weather, we had to delay the professional photographer's photo shoot again. My mom and I went to the wedding chapel again and had another shoot, this time Ashlyn was a little more cooperative. But they have now learned that when taking pictures, they get fed treats. So they start to cry purposely so that we feed them....which means that every picture we get has drool and weird tongues!! Here are some of the newest "spring" pics.

Gotta have the crying shot!!

photoshoot

2010-03-17T18:30:00.005-05:00

We were supposed to have our 8 month pictures taken this week, but since the girls got sick we postponed it until next week. But I wanted to take advantage of the pretty day, so I decided to do a photo shoot myself! I decorated a pink bucket and went up to the wedding chapel(they have flowers that are blooming). The pictures didn't turn out very well. My camera battery died, so my mom raced home to get hers. In the 5 minutes she was gone, Ashlyn got angry and nothing made her happy. Then my mom's memory card filled up and we couldn't take anymore pictures! The entire shoot only lasted about 30 minutes. So, needless to say we will just wait for the professional to do it next week!

This was taken just for fun. These goofy hats came with this outfit and I clipped a flower on them and put them on the girls. They look pretty silly in them!

"Hey, sister look back here!"

This is the closest we came to a good shot of Ashlyn

Addison always sticks out her tongue when she smiles!

HAPPY SPRING!!!

We survived the stomach virus

2010-03-17T18:12:00.003-05:00

Monday morning Addison woke up with the stomach virus. I know it has been going around like crazy, but I've been really careful to not take the girls out unless I HAD to. I don't know where she would have gotten the germs, but she did. She threw up 6 times. It was so sad...her eyes would water and she couldn't breathe...then when she would catch her breath she would whimper this little squeaky sound that just broke my heart. I actually cried too while she was throwing up! The worst of it only lasted about 3 1/2 hours, but we are still working on getting her appetite back to normal. She is still sleeping a lot too. But I feel more confident with sickness now because I know how to handle it. For some reason it seemed to help to just strip them down to nothing but their diaper!! It was pretty messy at first, but I got it all under control after a few barfs!! I ended up calling the nurse, just to make sure I was doing all the right things and she told me that Ashlyn and I would probably get it next. She said to give it 24 to 36 hours and if we didn't have it by then we were in the clear. Well, 24 hours went by and we felt fine......35 hours went by and we felt fine.....right on the dot--36 hours I heard Ashlyn in her crib gagging(it was about 11:00pm). I raced in there and she was sick!!!! So we had to do it all over again, but this time it was through the middle of the night rather than during the day. Ashlyn seemed to handle it much better than Addison. Addison made such a production out of throwing up...she even projectiled 2 feet!! Ashlyn was very dainty about it all. She would get very still and focus on what was happening. She never cried through it...she meant business!! When she finished, she went back to sleep! By 3am she seemed to be feeling better and hadn't gotten sick in 2 hours so I put her back in bed. This morning its almost like nothing ever happened!! Ashlyn is her same silly self again...without an appetite though. Now, if Ryan and I can make it through Friday afternoon we will be in the clear....I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!!
I made our couch into a make shift hospital bed. I covered it with a sheet since Addison kept spewing everywhere!

Ashlyn was so tired and weak, it was so sad....but sweet because she was a cuddle bug!

Even when she was feeling terrible, she still was curious about the camera!

one sick baby, one mobile baby

2010-03-10T09:47:00.005-06:00

Poor Addi has another cold. For the last 3 months in a row, she has had to go on antibiotics because she gets sick--and typically passes it on to her sister. I have a feeling that within the next few days Ashlyn will start getting it too. Its so sad, Addison just sits around with her mouth wide open because she can't breathe through her nose. Now she is losing her voice and she sounds like a sick little pony! She hates suction and spraying, but I have to do it. The only thing she enjoys is Tylenol...because its cherry flavored! I think today she might look a little better, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Ashlyn is going to avoid the cold and Addison is on the mend! I was planning on getting their 8 month pictures taken this week but with Addi looking so sickly I decided to wait until next week(assuming Ash doesn't come down with it)!

Yesterday(March 9th), Ashlyn realized that she can crawl! Well, its a mixture of a crawl, an army crawl, an inch worm and a bear crawl! But, nevertheless she can get to where she wants and what she wants! So, I guess I officially have a mobile baby! Its kind of funny to watch her face when she gets determined to get to something. She focuses in on it and starts to slowly move forward, but she is still so unsteady on her hands that she wobbles and falls a lot. I feel a little sorry for her because she looks so pitiful and helpless, but she is getting stronger each time she tries it again.

I never quite learned how to post a video that doesn't have messed up sound(this is in reference to my last post). I'm just going to forget about it and never post another video because I just can't get one to work?!?

Here are some pictures of this past week:
Ashlyn loves to climb on top of Addison. She has done this since the day they were born, hence the reason we have to sleep them in seperate cribs! Addison is not much of a cuddler but Ashlyn loves to snuggle up to anything or anyone that is willing.

This is Addison throwing one of her loud(and I mean LOUD) fits. These fits turn her entire body beat red and make all the veins in her bald skull pop out!! Ashlyn is looking on like, "whats wrong with you?!?"

Addison singing into the microphone. I think Ashlyn quickly went over and stole it out of her hands and another fit was had!

This was taken several days before Ashlyn actually could move from this position. For 2 weeks she would get into position and then just rock back and forth.....but now she can actually move!!!!

Ashlyn's first word(kind of)

2010-03-07T10:23:00.002-06:00

Late last night, Ashlyn discover the "d" sound. She now is constantly saying "dadaa dadaa dadaa dadaa". I know she isn't relating it to Ryan yet, but I think its the first step to talking!! I'm so excited! Here is a video of it! As of now, she only does it when she is about to start crying. Its nice though that she is saying it because when she is upset I can say "hey daddy, she wants YOU"!!!! LOL! I've never posted a video before so hopefully its as easy as it looks....

The return of Bucky

2010-02-24T11:12:00.004-06:00

When my brother was little, he had this horse that he called Bucky. He rode that thing day and night...he loved it!! My mom and I were at the Fort Worth Just Between Friends sale yesterday and we saw these 2 girl Bucky's!! I know its a little too soon for them to ride safely, but we got them anyway!! I put them on the horses for a short minute today to take some pictures. The pictures turned out ok, but it was chaotic for a short minute during our photo shoot! First, Addison(with her big, bald melon head) fell off Bucky and onto the carpet. I know it didn't hurt her, but I'm sure it startled her. She began crying very dramatically as she always does and I made her feel better. But I didn't get the picture I was hoping for, so I had to dust her off and put her back on the horse!!! Well, that time I evidently had Bucky a little too close to the wall because when she fell off THAT time she bumped her head. It made a hollow "thud" and once again she started crying. I figured that one hurt a little more, but it wasn't serious in the least bit! I distracted her attention and she forgot all about it! But, that time I got the shot!!! All of Addi's falls today made me know for certain that it IS too early to put a baby on a horse!!! We will store the Bucky's safely in a closet until a later date!
It was fun at first

Hold on Addison!! This is after the first fall, right before the second fall!! For some reason she didn't want to touch the handle--and thats why she fell off!

Little Ash can ride like a pro!!

Las Vegas trip

2010-02-24T10:50:00.004-06:00

We just returned home from our trip to Las Vegas. It was SO nice to get away and go to bed early(yes I was in bed by 11pm every night--in Vegas)!! I figured it was my time to catch up on sleep! We shopped at 2 different malls, ate at Pinks Hot Dogs, had frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity, and ate at Mesa Grill(Bobby Flay's restaurant. We did a lot of eating....A LOT!! I guess my favorite part of the trip was shopping at H & M and going to this specialty swim shop that personally selects swim suits based on your body type. I have known that since having twins that my bikini days are pretty much over. I've looked at several tankinis, but the small section on a tankini that shows your skin is my WORST area because I have stretch marks and saggy skin there. So after talking with the ladies and trying on about 20 different suits, I bought 2! I am very excited and I feel good in them, which is a BIGGY!! I ended up getting 2 one pieces--I never thought I would buy a one piece! But these are very stylish ones that are like a "mock" tankini, so it shows no skin!! I love them! We found 2 really cool stores in one of the malls. 1 was an art store called, Oh My Godard...they had some really neat things. The other was in the Caesars's Forum Shops and I don't remember the name of the place but they had some really cool furniture and lighting pieces. We decided that when we build our next house we would go back to Vegas and pick out some things from those stores.

I gambled a little bit...Ryan gambled a lot. He stayed up late every night playing either poker or blackjack. I only lost $100 for the entire trip--but I spent most of my "gambling" money on shopping! Ryan on the other hand lost a whopping $1,500--which is a sore subject with me!! A sore subject NOT because he lost the money, but because while he was out until 4:30am gambling he got approached by 2 prostitutes that wanted to go to the room with him!! He conveniently forgot to tell me until we were home and I couldn't hunt those hookers down!!

We were SO happy to get back home to the girls. When we walked through the door, they were both playing with toys and they just stopped dead in their tracks and starred at us. They didn't show any emotion, they just looked at us with their mouths hanging open. Its like we were never gone--which was nice!

Here are a few pics of the trip...
This is going to be our new company picture. It will go on the website and in the "ring earners" book that they hand out every 2 years. I like this picture much better than our old one--in the old one I looked asain!?!

Ok, this picture has a story with it. The story begins with a margarita at Mesa Grill! This is a chair that was custom made for Ozzy Osbourne. I just thought it was neat and I wanted my picture taken in it. I don't know what I was doing with my hands(due to the potent margarita) but I think I was trying to look prim and proper???

This is what was left of my "Miss America" dog at Pinks. It was a foot long chili dog smothered in nacho cheese!!!

This is my 32oz. frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity. OMG, it was so good and so sickening at the same time!!! And NO, I couldn't finish it!

Two Little Tripods

2010-02-09T20:30:00.006-06:00

I have spent most of this evening working with the girls on sitting up without support. They have been very close and tonight they both sat for several seconds without me having to hold them. Ashlyn would crash down and laugh, Addison would crash down and start screaming. I sometimes worry that she is going to be one of those kids that you could look at the wrong way and they start crying....she is very over dramatic! At the same time, she is a goof ball and she likes to show off! She has many tricks and she likes to show my mom what she can do whenever she comes over. For some reason, Addison has taken a liking to my mom over anyone else--including me and Ryan. Although, Ryan is a close second and I guess that makes me 3rd??

My little girl(Ashlyn) is so wild and crazy that we have given her a new name...Thrashin Ashlyn! Sometimes we call her Thrasher for short!! She is just a little ball of fire! She still won't sleep through the night(I think because she wants to know what we are doing--but doesn't realize we are sleeping). I get so angry every time I hear her crying through the monitor at 1, 2, 3 or 4am, however, the next morning I go into her room to get her up and she is in there playing with her stuffed animals and greets me with this big goofy smile and somehow I completely forget how frustrated she made me during the night. My parents call her the crazy Guggenheim, because she is just so silly.

I think the reason I am in such a "lovey" mood is because I realized today that I am about to leave them for 4 days....it is sinking in how much I am going to miss them. We went to Horseshoe Bay when the girls were about 8 or 9 weeks old, but its different now. Back then they just sat around. Yes, I missed them terribly but its just different. Now, they know me and they interact with me and I am going to miss 4 days of their lives and that breaks my heart. WHAT IF THEY SIT UP FOR A LONG TIME BY THEMSELVES FOR THE FIRST TIME?!?

I had to go to get my annual "girly" exam today and just seeing all the pregnant women there made me realize how lucky I am to have 2 babies--although I chuckled several times at the women as they waddled past me and I thought to myself, "GOSH, I'm glad I'm not pregnant anymore!" Although, it also made me realize the I might--MIGHT--want to have more kids. If it was a guarantee that I would have a boy or twin boys I would totally do it again. Ryan says we are finished with kids and I might agree....we have to see. BUT...if we DO have more kids I want it to be sooner rather than later because I want to get it over with. So I'm talking within a year and a half, trying to get pregnant...IF we decide to. And that's a BIG...HUGE...MONSTER if!!

While we are talking about pregnancy and getting fat, I forgot to mention that I am within 3 pounds of my pre-pregnancy weight!!! I finally broke down and went to Jenny Craig again. I know I could do the same thing with Lean Cuisines and other frozen meals, but theres something about JC that makes me stick to it and get serious! I need to get to 119 to be at my goal. But with my extra saggy baggy elephant skin, I think I will need to be at about 112-115 to look like I looked before I got pregnant. But don't get me wrong, I would accept 119 and tuck the extra skin down into my pants and hide it....so 115 would be so much better!! Hmmmm, well now I am extending my goal to losing 6 more pounds so I don't have to tuck! OH, and did I mention that I'm not nursing anymore? I stopped the week between Christmas and New Years. It feels wonderful not to be Elsie the cow anymore--and I'm back to my original small cup size too which I like much better!!

Ok, here are the pics of the girls from tonight...

Ashlyn, working hard to stay up!
Wobbling, wobbling....
HERE COMES THE CRASH!!
KABOOM!!
"ITS OK MOM, I CAN GET UP!!"
"I will just stay here on my tummy, Mommy"!!

Addison, the best sitter in the world!!
Shes still holding it....
Still going strong....
AND CRASH!! Look at that lip! This was right before she started crying...this was the "OMG, what just happend look" that she always gets before the screaming begins!!

And the award for the worst blogger of the year goes to....

2010-02-05T11:54:00.004-06:00

ME! I admit, I have really fallen off the wagon when it comes to keeping up with my blogging. The girls have become quite the handful over the last month. At the same time, it is becoming so much more fun! Today is their 7 month birthday! We are still a little behind on some developmental things, but for the most part we are on the right track! They are both VERY close to sitting up by themselves. Right now they just need a little hip stabilization, but otherwise they are doing it themselves. Addison has learned how to clap her hands, when I say "clap clap clap"! Its really cute! She also knows her name now and looks at me whenever I call her. Ashlyn....well, she's learning, but she is just always so busy that she doesn't pay attention long enough to learn things! So when I say THEY have become quite a handful, I really mean ASHLYN has become quite the handful!!! They also are both rolling from back/tummy and tummy/back now on a regular basis!

I never wrote in and updated for our 6 month checkup. Honestly, I don't remember their exact weight. I think Addison was 14.4 and Ashlyn was 12.7. Addison was in the 13-15% and Ashlyn is still in the 5%. I think she is just going to be a tiny little thing!!! We eat mostly stage 2 and some stage 3 foods. They love their fruit in the mornings and their meat and veggies at night. And they LOVE LOVE LOVE eating grown up people food....like chocolate, philly cheesesteak, ice cream, chips, bread, cheese, diet coke and beef stew!!

Ryan's company put on a contest that the winner would get a trip to Las Vegas, and we qualified for the trip. So we leave Feb 15th-18th. I don't know what I am going to do when I leave the girls for 4 days. I know they will be in good hands with my parents though. Its just that I am going to miss them so much! At the same time, I'm looking very forward to the trip and shopping and gambling!! It will be nice to get away and spend time with Ryan without having to worry about what time we get home for bedtime! I guess my next post will be about our trip!

Here are some pictures that I've taken over the last month...Hey sister, I've got your ear!

Watching our favorite TV show, Yo Gabba Gabba

Can you tell which one is the little angel and which one is the little monster?!?

Ashlyn driving her little pink car! Their new favorite activity is jumping in their car and in their jumper!

Ashlyn fell asleep in her play tray..........and then she woke up with a red forehead!! She was pretty angry about it!

This is how Ashlyn likes to shop.....with her bow over her eyes! People always stop us and tell me that her bow is over her eyes and they want me to fix it, but thats really how she likes it! She pulls it down and goes to sleep! Addison is always Miss Pleasant, she is just along for the ride no matter where we go!!

Claire has learned to love the babies! She enjoys trying to get them to play with her. She will go up to them and drop a toy on their face! They enjoy her too....they laugh at her when she walks through the room or barks! I think they will be best friends! In this picture, Addison was making her high pitched bird calls on the floor and Claire got worked up about it and started to try to get them to play!

Our first Christmas

2009-12-27T16:35:00.008-06:00

I never thought I would say that I enjoyed watching my 2 girls open up their gifts MORE than I enjoyed opening up my own gifts! Even though they are only (almost)6 months old, it seems like they knew that these things were for them! At one point, Addison shook her arm uncontrollably at one of her toys because she was excited. I took SO MANY pictures and TONS of videos, but its a moment that I want to remember forever so I felt like I had to catch a shot of everything. Here are some of my favorite ones...

A picture of the family before we open up our gifts

Addison enjoyed eating paper until it was her turn!

Addison was excited to see her new rattle(and so was I)!!!

Addison and Ashlyn looking at their new stuff

Our new overnight bags from MomMom (my mom)

Addison all wrapped up like a present

Our new Dr. Seuss books from Cousin Beck...with Daddy's eyes cut out--OOPS!!

Ashlyn wasn't too excited about the new clothes from Grammie (Ryan's mom), she liked the toys the best....actually she was crying through most of the gift opening!!!

Addison looking at the new flamingo puppet that the dog thought was HER toy!!

Addi checking out her new Glow Worm....I used to LOVE mine as a kid!
Then things turned really bad, very quickly!

Ashlyn taking a ride on her new pillow pet lion

Overall it was a great Christmas. I can't wait until next year when the girls will know a little more about what is going on. I didn't even put up the Christmas tree this year because it seemed like a lot of trouble for a lady with twins!!! LOL, I plan on doing it next year though! Throughout 2010, I hope the girls are really good so Santa will bring them even more loot next year!

the many attempts of a family picture

2009-12-27T13:48:00.007-06:00

1. Ashlyn found her feet...RETAKE

2. Trying to take the attention off Ashlyn's feet, the hand of the make shift "rattle" got in the photo....RETAKE!!

3. This one is blurry...RETAKE!!

4. We weren't ready...RETAKE!!

5. Back to the feet for Ashlyn! RETAKE!!!

6. We finally get a good "blurry" picture of everyone--except me....RETAKE!!!

7. HEEEELLO FEET(again)...RETAKE!!

8. Here is the end result--when we accepted that we weren't going to get a good shot of the 4 of us! BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!!
*Ashlyn's bow went "Rambo", Addison is not looking, and Daddy is smiling like a big goof...MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

First Christmas is a white christmas

2009-12-27T13:44:00.004-06:00

I can't believe that we got this lucky!! It is so rare that we get snow in Texas, nuch less on Christmas Eve!! I think it is so special that the girls got to experience snow for the first time on the same day that they get to experience their first Christmas celebration! I took them out to "play" for a second(literally a second because it was SO cold!)

My little snow babies...they look like little Russian girls!!

The hat was too big for Ashlyn's head!

BIG changes...

2009-12-10T19:59:00.004-06:00

I'm not going to lie....these last several weeks have made a BIG difference in the way I view twins! When the babies were younger I could just let them sleep and continue on with my daily routine(which consisted largely of getting on facebook). These days, my day is consumed with entertaining 2 babies that want to do completely different things!! I cry almost everyday out of frustration. I feel like I'm not doing enough to help them learn the things they should be doing(like rolling over, eating cereal, etc.) I'm just alone all day and its hard to teach 1 baby those things, much less 2. Addison is so patient and she can entertain herself, so I feel like I usually just leave her sitting by herself all day long while I take care of the high maintenance diva I call Ashlyn!! I keep telling Ryan to hold onto his hat, because Ashlyn is going to give us T-R-O-U-B-L-E!! She is so nosey and she never sleeps during the day. She wants to be with me no matter where I go or what I do. She sees EVERYTHING that goes on in this household. She stares at strangers intently. She makes friends no matter where we go...as if we need any more attention when we go out in public! As of the babies 5 month birthday...THIS HAS GOTTEN HARD--VERY VERY HARD!!

It is getting close to Christmas. When they were first born my goal was to have them rolling over(from tummy to back) and eating real food. Neither of which has happened yet. Addison has rolled over about 5 times but I have yet to see it. They still arent really laughing yet. They chuckle here and there but I am just dying to hear a real belly laugh! Addison has also eaten a little bit of cereal and sweet potatoes but Ashlyn screams when the spoon comes near her face. I bought them jumpers for Christmas and I put them together a few days ago...then I spoiled everything by letting them play in them(they won't remember!). Anyway, their poor little legs are still about 3 inches from the floor so we can't even use those yet! I just laugh about all of this. I know all of these things will come with time and I have to consider their corrective age(which is really 3 1/2 months). I think I stress myself out too much about things.

I am going to try to get better about blogging, but I don't want any of you to count on that! Ryan is taking from mid December until the new year off, so I am hoping that it will help having someone here 24/7 to help and give me some free time to do stuff like blog and facebook! For now(as I listen to Ashlyn screaming for attention in the living room) I just type really fast and hope they stay asleep for another 5 minutes so I can finish typing this sentance!!

Friday the 13th is a good day for Addison

2009-11-13T16:44:00.003-06:00

She pushed up for the first time! I have been worried that they were falling behind of their tummy time skills. It seemed like everytime I put them on their tummy, they screamed and drooled all over the blanket! But today when I did it, Addison just popped right into position like it wasn't any big deal! I was so proud of her...she typically is the slower baby as far as the physical development goes but she beat Ashlyn! She has done it 3 other times since then...she's becoming an old pro!

HELLO, Peggy Pig!!

4 months have come and gone

2009-11-13T16:23:00.002-06:00

We have survived our first 4 months as parents. It surprisingly isn't as hard as I imagined it would be...in fact you would think I was crazy when I told you I would like to have twin boys! My girls are growing so fast and learning so much everyday. They are still so tiny(about the size of a 2 1/2 month old) but to me they are HUGE and it makes me sad to look back at pictures from the day we brought them home! Their personalities are developing...Addison is going to be the dramatic one and Ashlyn is going to be the cuddle bug who is always in our lap. They are both pretty goofy and I think they will have a great sense of humor.

We went back to the doctor for our checkup and shots. The girls did good as usual! Addison is now 11 pounds 15 ounces and 23 1/4 inches(17th percentile). Ashlyn is 10 pounds 7 ounces and 22 1/2 inches(3rd percentile). They told us to start cereal from a spoon, so my mom and I rushed out and bought all kinds of baby food as well as rice cereal. The doctor said that we could start food after they have gotten used to the cereal. Anyway, long story-short--they gagged at the cereal and won't eat it! I have tried several days in a row and they just won't do it! I called the doctor to see if I could try a new approach and he said that since they are preemie's to give it another couple of weeks and try again. Here are some pictures from our visit with Dr. Davidson:

Addison

OUCH, THAT HURTS!! Addison

Ashlyn

OUCHIE!! Ashlyn might be the tiniest one but she's a trooper!

My mom and I are going to start a new tradition after every doctor's visit....Wendy's frosties and shopping!! This was our first time and Ash was taking it all in!

Night out at Lone Star Park

2009-10-25T16:03:00.004-05:00

Ryan had a business event at Lone Star Park on Friday night so we left the girls with my parents. We usually eat at Silk's, which is up on the 3rd floor of the track and it overlooks everything...so knowing that I was going to get a good meal I was looking very forward to the evening! We got there and ate and started watching the races and I decided that I wanted to pull a "fast one" on Ryan. I told him that I wanted to start doing my own betting on the horses that I chose and he started giving me money for all the races. I don't know how he didn't notice and catch on that every time I would go bet, I would leave the table and never come back with my ticket in hand. Actually what I was doing was sticking the money in my pocket! He did ask me a couple of times what horses I bet and where my ticket was but I just told him that I lost and the waitress must have taken my ticket away with my dirty plate...and he believed me! It was a fun night and I ended up with about $60 in my pocket....in the end I was the only winner of the night!!

PEOPLE CAN BE SO RUDE!

2009-10-25T15:49:00.002-05:00

I'm now realizing that no matter where we go I have to allow an extra hour for people stopping us and asking questions and stare at the babies. I understand its because I have twins and it catches people's eyes. But I have become the center of attention everywhere I go! Sometimes I have the time and the girls are in a good mood, so I don't mind it. Other times the babies are screaming and I have to be rude to people and run home! I just don't understand why people feel the need to come up and ask personal questions and bend down and breathe their germs all over the girls. I just want to say "STAY AWAY AND DON'T TOUCH MY BABIES"! People will even let their snotty nosed kids come over and get in their faces and cough and sneeze all around them. DO PEOPLE NOT HAVE ANY MANNERS ANYMORE?!? With me being a germ-o-phobe its difficult to take them out right now anyway...but with people doing this stuff day in and day out it really gets on my nerves!

Thanks for letting me vent.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins and More Pumpkins!

2009-10-25T15:09:00.010-05:00

I changed my mind about taking the girls to a pumpkin patch for their first Halloween. My first thought was that it would be silly, seeing that they can't sit up or even hold their heads very well. But I changed my mind after my mom bought some cute Halloween outfits that we HAD to show off! We took them to a patch that is right down the street from our house. Ryan had to work and I didn't want to brave this alone so I invited my parents and in-laws to come with me for support(and extra hands)!!

They had several cute places to put children--not babies--but we came with boppy's in hand and a blanket to make the pictures a little prettier! I have now come to realize that when shooting 2 infants, it is nearly impossible to get the perfect picture. One will be posing perfectly and the other will have her tongue hanging out of her mouth! In our case, Ashlyn discovered her foot and the orange sock that was on it and decided to do nothing but stare at it! After we got a few pictures in the pumpkins we headed over to Green's Produce to take some pictures in the fall flowers. They actually had a better set up than the pumpkin patch and we ended up taking even more pictures over there. By the end of it all, the girls got VERY cranky and then fell asleep! The funniest part of the entire day was seeing my mom and in-laws making complete fools of themselves trying to get the girls attention to look at the camera. IF I HAD ONLY GOTTEN IT ON VIDEO!!

cuddling in the Jack-O-Lanterns

Right before Ashlyn discovered her foot...
FOOT...
FOOT!!

Photo shoots can make a girl sleepy!

the end of the day and they've had enough!

Ashlyn just HAD to get out of her clothes and back into her PJ's!

I can't wait until we get to do this again next year...except with our fairy costumes! I bought them to wear this year but they are HUGE so we are going to save them for next Halloween! It will be a lot more fun because the girls will be able to toddle around in the pumpkins and we get to pick one out to carve!

My crazy dog

2009-10-18T14:22:00.003-05:00

I blogged a long time ago that I wasn't sure how our sweet but very spoiled dog, Claire would handle the babies. Well, she is doing fine but she has started doing the weirdest things. About 3 days after we brought them home I noticed her nursing a blanket that we keep on the couch. She had shoved it up underneath her and she had made a nipple out of it and was sucking on it and pumping her paws like she was trying to stimulate milk flow! It was the craziest thing! She still does that from time to time but now she has started stealing baby things. I have caught her stealing a pacifier out of Ashlyn's mouth several times. She ever so gently grabs it with her front teeth and sloooowly pulls it out of her mouth! She also will steal bottles if we leave them sitting on a table. I don't understand her one bit! She has always been mischievous, but now she is just down right BAD!! We need to call the dog whisperer! I try to punish her and tell her NO and that she is a bad dog, but how can you not laugh when you look up and see this....Its FUNNY, I don't care who you are....you can't NOT laugh if you see this! She knows it too and I think thats why she keeps doing it!

I have a twin?!?

2009-10-18T14:13:00.003-05:00

The girls have discovered each other. A week ago I was feeding Ashlyn and Addison was down to my side on her boppy pillow and I caught her gazing at her sister. I held Ashlyn down over Addison so she could get a good view of her sister. They began to smile at each other and coo a little bit! It was SO cute to see them recognize that there is another baby in this house! Ever since that day I give them several chances to examine the other one and touch each others hands and feet. It is the sweetest thing to see.

YAY for new friends!

2009-10-18T13:55:00.006-05:00

This week we introduced the twins to 2 new friends, Maddie and Brayden. Maddie is 3 months old. She is the daughter of a friend that I have known all my life, Whitney. When we were young, Whitney and her sister and parents moved to Lufkin and we lost touch over the years. Well, they recently moved back to Ovilla and we frequently meet up and have get togethers with our families. It is so nice to have such good friends and have the babies grow up together and become friends. We met for lunch at the shopping center in Cedar Hill and had mexican food at Matt's. It was really the first time that the girls had interraction with another baby of their age. My girls were awake the entire time and Maddie decided to sleep right until we were about to leave! We did happen to get 1 picture of the 3 of them...

We also got to meet Brayden for the first time. He belongs to my friend Amanda, who I have known since elementary school. I ran into her at the doctors office and our due dates were 5 days apart! We had our first sonogram on the same day. Ever since then we have been meeting up for dinner with our husbands and we have become good friends. We went to Outback Steakhouse in Grapevine...which was chaotic! Then we went back to their new house in Trophy Club so the boys could have a drink. Brayden is so cute and he had his "lock up your daughters" onesie on, so we felt obligated to put a girl on each side and make him look studly! There wasn't much cooperation and all the babies liked the mobile better than looking at the camera!

Last but not least we got to see Adam and Amy this weekend. Amy is almost 12 weeks pregnant with either Connor or Taylor(we won't know until late November)! It was the first time that Amy has held both babies. It started out great until Addison got hungry....and as you can see emotions ran high!!

Daddy, the funniest man alive

2009-10-18T11:05:00.004-05:00

I sometimes think the girls get tired of seeing me. I try constantly to make them smile and they are so close to laughing that I make a fool of myself pretty much all day everyday! No longer are my jokes, noises and faces funny....they are bored with me. When daddy comes home its a completely different story. They smile with just a glance at his face and it makes me jealous! This is what I caught the other day when he came home from work...
This is Ryan when he came home and greeted Addison...she was so happy to see him!

Addison with her big goofy smile!

My sweet Ashlyn so happy to see her daddy!

Sweet smiles from my little runt!

BOWS BOWS AND MORE BOWS!

2009-10-07T15:27:00.005-05:00

A friend of mine makes hairbows. We recently sold her some furniture from one of our old guestrooms(that is now the playroom) so she made us a hairbow in pretty much every color of the rainbow. She even custom dyed the headbands to match the bow...which is exactly what I had been wanting. I don't think we will need any other bows until the girls grow hair, which looks like it might be a while!! Ryan has no clue how many we actually have, so he is going to get a big surprise when he gets home! I took some pictures the babies when I got home in their new headpieces!! While I was shooting, Ashlyn decided to crack one of her very rare smiles and I caught it on camera!! I don't know why but she photographs SO fat...you'll see!!!I still can't believe sometimes that I have TWO babies!! My sweet little bow headed angels!! They are 3 months old now!

my smiling marshmallow!

Horseshoe Bay Getaway!

2009-10-07T15:05:00.004-05:00

Ryan and I took our first vacation since the babies were born. We went to Horseshoe Bay for a few days and left the babies with my parents. It was SO hard to leave them for that long but we survived by watching the videos that my mom texted me. One night I even started crying in the middle of dinner, just by looking at a picture of Addison wrapped in her towel after her bath! Now that it is done, it will be easier to do it again(even though I don't want to). I've learned that we all just need a break sometimes just to get away and clear our minds(and sleep in)!!

One thing I don't like about traveling alone is that you don't have anyone to take pictures of you...therefore I only have a couple of pictures of Ryan playing golf!! He played the back 9 holes of the Apple Rock course. The views from that course are unbelieveable! Unfortunately it poured rain pretty much the entire time, but luckily I had my umbrella. I was his "cart girl", so I drove and never had to get out into the drizzle! Ryan was absolutely soaked when we were finished, but never the less we had a good time.Ryan playing his first hole.

The view of the lake from the golf course.

We also went jet skiing for a couple of hours on Friday before the rain started. It was freezing...maybe that was why we were the only people on the entire lake! We are both so competitive that our main goal is to try to throw each other off as violently as possible. I threw Ryan off first, 2 times. Once he screamed like a little girl and we both sat in the water and laughed so hard we couldn't breathe or swim back to the jet ski. After that, he threw me off 2 times, but not as good as I threw him!! We just enjoyed spending time together. We talked to a realtor about buying a lot on the lake(not knowing that empty waterfront lots start at $500,000). We want to buy a lot and eventually build a house on it...but YIKES...not for that kind of money! So we hope to buy a condo on the resort within the next year instead! That way we can take the girls and families with us and not have to worry about bothering any hotel guests.

All in all it was a great trip. I wish it hadn't rained but at least we got away. I felt like we were first dating again. It seems like the only things we talk about these days are who needs to be changed, fed or put to sleep! It was nice to actually have a normal conversation with my husband again!

Ashlyn smiled!!

2009-09-26T11:00:00.002-05:00

1 1/2 weeks after Addison smiled, Ashlyn has now done it too! It was Wednesday September 23rd. I was sitting with her and squeezing her cheeks and out it came! She makes a lot of goofy faces all the time, so I wasn't sure if it was a face or an actual smile. She did it about 5 more times, so I know its real! I happened to catch a quick picture on my phone because she hasn't done it for anyone else yet so no one believes that she has really done it. I guess its just a special thing between her and her mommy....so I'd like to think!! I keep trying to get a real picture of it on the camera but its really hard and she doesn't cooperate. Its strange to me that their personalities are different. Addison studies your face for a minute and then smiles at you if you make funny faces and sounds. Ashlyn only smiles if you do something to her, like pinch her cheeks or wiggle her arms. The more they grow the more I realize how different they really are...THEY ARE NOTHING ALIKE!! Now that I have 2 smiling babies, it makes me look forward to the day they both laugh.

Who needs to poop? Not the Wallace girls...

2009-09-15T10:35:00.004-05:00

I am gradually trying to stop pumping. My goal is to be finished by Halloween. Our freezer is stocked(overflowing) with frozen milk and I am getting everything in order. In doing so, I am slowly adding more formula into their bottles. At every feeding they are eating about 2 to 3 ounces, so I add 1 1/2 ounces of formula and 1 1/2 ounces of milk. I intend on increasing it more every week. So, it seems like the formula is making the girls constipated...Addison especially. They have only pooped once since Thursday...this is now Tuesday! Addison seems to be in some discomfort, seeing that she screamed for 6 hours last night. I have tried apple-prune juice, mylicon, Gripe water...everything. Nothing is working. Ashlyn isn't doing as bad. She pooped a little in the night, but poor Addison. I don't know what to do!?!

Snot and Boogers

2009-09-15T10:27:00.002-05:00

From the second I got pregnant, I prayed that the girls did not get Ryan's allergies and sinus problems. Unfortunately, I think Ashlyn might have some issues. It only seems to happen in the middle of the night, but it has happened consistantly for the last 4 nights in a row. I will get up to feed them and Ash is struggling to get air. I always investigate to make sure she isn't choking, but it is her nose. It is completely impacted and she can't breathe through it. I think it scares her sometimes because she cries like she is panicing. The first time it happened I wasn't sure what to do, so I grabbed the "ball-sucker" that we got at the hospital and jabbed it into her nose and frantically started sucking. It made her really upset and she cried even louder, but it seemed to help. So now when it happens I do the same thing, just a little more gentle and calm! Maybe a humidifier would help? I will have to do some experimenting.

Our 2 month check up

2009-09-15T09:52:00.003-05:00

We went to see Dr. Davidson on Thursday, Sept. 10th. It was our 2 month check up and our first vaccines. Now that we begin looking at the percentile and growth curve, it makes me realize just how tiny my girls are.

Addison: Is now 9 pounds 5 ounces. She is 21 inches long. She is in the 10th percentile and is on the very bottom line of the growth curve.

Ashlyn: Is now 8 pounds 2.5 ounces. She is 20 1/2 inches long. She is in the less than 3 percentile and is still just below the growth curve.

Dr. Davidson says not to worry and that they will be a lot better by their next visit, which is in November. He says that you can't judge anything by their size and weight at this point.

Our first shots hurt me more than they hurt the girls! Addison cried--screamed--but she was calmed down very easily. Ashlyn squealed this really high pitched noise and it made us all laugh. She did cry too and was calmed down very easily. It made them run a fever for several hours and we gave them Tylenol for the first 12 hours after their shots. All in all they did really good and I was happy!

Ashlyn

2009-09-15T09:42:00.003-05:00

She is beginning to become more alert. She has these goofy faces she makes and her eyes are so beautiful that you can't help but chuckle when you see her. We have been taking lots of pictures of her because it is just so rare to see her awake for long periods. These are some of the ones we have captured.This was her first time sitting in her Bumbo chair. She really can't sit in it yet, but she is so tiny that the back of the chair supports her head...so it kind of works! She was not having fun and she was pleading for help!

Aki is a HUGE Lab. He belongs to my friend Katie and her husband Erik. He is an explosives dectection dog and has been to Iraq. He is just the sweetest, best tempered, gentle giant! We decided to ride him like a horse!
The happiness subsided when Sis joined in on the dog-horse.

The first Cowboy's game...we propped Ash up with pillows so she could watch the game with daddy. She actually enjoyed it...I think she can see all the men running around and it gets her attention. But don't tell daddy that...he thinks she really enjoys the game!

Addison, the baby who could smile!!

2009-09-15T09:30:00.003-05:00

She is 9 1/2 weeks old: Saturday, September 12th....I was leaving for the Just Between Friends sale in Fort Worth, so my mom came over to watch the girls. It was about 9am and my mom went over to Addison and made a face. LOW AND BEHOLD--a smile!! This big, gummy, grin that lit up my entire world! I knew that it would be coming soon, but it completely took me off guard. I couldn't tear myself away from looking at her and I ended up being a little late to the sale. I told myself not to get my hopes up and think that she would smile everyday. I knew it might not happen for another week(maybe more). But she has smiled at me everyday since then and several times at that!! I still can't seem to catch it on camera though. This is as close as I've gotten. Ashlyn still has not shown us her smile. In fact, I'm not too sure she is even close to smiling. It's weird, even though she is the smaller baby she is physically the stronger baby. She can push herself up on the floor and almost hold her head up by herself. But she is developmentally about 2 weeks behind Addison. I can't wait for the day that they will laugh. I think Addison is close to cooing as well. I can't wait! Until then, I will stand by with my camera at hand!

update from my last blog...

2009-09-05T21:22:00.002-05:00

These are the pictures I meant to add in with my last post.

Ryan came home from work early and we went out for hamburgers. Its really nothing special, but it is very rare for us to spend time together during the week so it meant a lot! I look beat!

Ashlyn going to town on Addison's nose. Forget nipples...she likes noses!!

Daddy and Ashlyn posing together.

My cousin Rebecca and Ashlyn.

My first day at work....well kind of?!?

2009-09-05T15:34:00.002-05:00

All of my girls at the tanning salon are out of town this weekend for Labor Day, so I had to work for the first time since June. Given, its only 3 1/2 hours, but I tell you it has been going by SO SO SLOW!!! As bored as I am though, it feels good to be back up here and overseeing the salon again. It makes me realize that I still need to be up here from time to time...considering it is my business! I can't just let it go like I have been doing the last several weeks! I don't have my camera with me up here, so I can't post pictures. I will soon though, I promise!

The last couple of weeks have been great. My cousin came back into town from Albuquerque and I wish she would just move here. I love spending time with her and I know the girls will think she is so much fun when they get older. Rebecca and I went to get a massage one day, which was great because it was the first "me" time I have had since the girls have been born. I think I might try to keep doing that every other week in order to keep my sanity! I got the CUTEST picture of her and Ashlyn. It is so rare that Ash is awake and alert, so we had a very quick photoshoot when it happened.

We had Ryan's 10 year high school reunion last Saturday. It was fun, but I got sick and started running a fever while we were there so we ended up leaving early. I felt terrible that I made him leave his party early but I had toughed it out for over an hour(shivering in the corner). When I got home I took my temperature and it was 102.9. NO WONDER I FELT SO BAD!! The next day I went to the doctor and they said I have Mastitis. All the symptoms feel like the flu(fever, chills, achy skin). He put me on antibiotics and said I will feel better within a couple of days. Here we are a week later and I feel better, but I still have a HUGE lump in my right breast that isn't going away. It is the size of a small orange. I read that sometimes you have to have them drained and now I am afraid that I will. The doctor said my case was pretty severe, but that he had seen worse...I can't imagine how terrible a woman that has it worse than me must be feeling!

Tonight, Ryan and I are attempting to go out for our 2nd-first date night. I say 2nd because we attempted this already once before and it was a disaster. But tonight we have arranged for Ryan's parents to watch the babies overnight so we can have an entire night! We really don't have any big plans...honestly I feel like just staying home and lounging in my pj's all night and catching up on relaxation!! IS THAT BAD?!?

The girls have done some cute things lately...the #1 cute thing is that they slept 5 hours through the night--TWICE!! I will come back to that in a minute!
One day I laid them together on their loungers and Addison was fussing. Ashlyn reached out and stuck her thumb in Addison's mouth to calm her down! I am totally aware that it wasn't on purpose, but I can't help but think it is the "twin bond" that people have told me so much about. It all happened so fast that I didn't have time to catch a picture. But a few days later I laid them on the lounger again. I had them face to face and Ashlyn was a little fussy. Somehow she found Addison's nose and latched on like it was a nipple and just started going to town. She sucked her nose for a REALLY long time! I did get pictures and I will have to post them when I get home later tonight. Ok, so back to the 5 hours of sleep...I don't know what caused it. We did our regular swaddle, feed in the dark, rock routine that we always do for our bedtime feeding. Typically Addison's colic will keep her up screaming until about 2am but for some reason she only fussed a little bit and then went down. I usually don't have to set the alarm to get up to feed them because they wake up right on time and let me know. So, when I heard them cry I assumed it was 1:30am....but it was 2:30am!!!! I thought it could have been a fluke because it didn't happen again for about a week....but they did it again last night! Maybe this is the beginning of easier times?!? I can only hope!

I have decided to throw my organization and schedule out the window. I feed them when they tell me they are hungry. I don't let them go longer than 4 hours during the day but at night I just let them sleep until they wake up. Its working great so far and it is somewhat less stressful on me as well. We go back to the doctor on the 10th. I plan on talking to him about slowly adding formula into their bottles so I can stop pumping. I hope that by Halloween I can be done. They are eating about 2 1/2 to 3 ounces at every feeding. I have started adding 1 ounce of formula into each bottle and doing the rest breastmilk. Last time I tried this, Addison didn't poop for 3 days(hence why I need to talk to the dr). So far so good for her this time, so I hope it continues to go smooth.

AND FINALLY...ADAM AND AMY ARE PREGNANT!!!! I am so excited about this. I hope they have a little girl so that the girls can have a best friend. Our children will only be 10 months apart. I believe she is due May 7th...so it will be exciting to see her belly grow and change. In the meantime, we will have to give her lots of practice with our babies! They are hoping for twins....LOL! I told them to be careful what you wish for!!!!!

DAD OF THE YEAR

2009-08-23T12:19:00.002-05:00

This picture is worth 1,000 words.
only my husband could hold a bottle with his chin, drink a beer and watch tv at the same time!! At least he is beginning to multi-task!

The good, the bad and the ugly!

2009-08-23T11:38:00.004-05:00

I have fallen so behind on my blogging. Things have gotten a lot more exciting and a lot more hectic over the last couple of weeks....some good, some bad! Where to begin? Now that we are officially past our due date we have started venturing out more. We have been to dinner several times(we have yet to try it with just the 4 of us because we are afraid)! We have introduced the girls to more of our family members. We even made our first trip to Sprinkles Cupcakes in Dallas.

The girls are 7 weeks old today...which really means 1 week old when you calculate in their corrective age. I can notice little things changing. Ashlyn is now more awake and alert. And both girls are beginning to stay up after their 9:30/10:00am feedings. I sing and dance and act like an idiot for about 30 minutes, until they doze back off. I have tried to start an afternoon nap routine, which only works about half the time.

On the down side...Addison has started to get colic. I'm not sure about Ashlyn, but she seems to have it from time to time as well. Addison begins to scream between 5pm and 6pm every day and usually doesn't stop until after bedtime. After talking to several friends, they all told me to get Gripe Water. I have heard that some pediatricians don't like it....but I HAD to give it a shot to see if it would calm her down. It did and I only use it once or twice a day and I only give her half of the recommended dose. So, now that we have semi-solved that problem things seem to be a lot better.

We are still working on our 4 hour feedings at night. We can usually make it about 3 1/2 hours until the whining begins. Ryan and I switch shifts nightly, between the 1:30/2am and 5:30/6am feedings. I am now sleeping about 6 hours total off and on. We go back to the doctor on September 10th and I am going to ask if we could possibly start 4 hour feedings all day. THAT WOULD BE HEAVEN!!!!! I just don't know if they would be getting enough to eat though, so thats why we have to ask!

Ryan left this morning for a business trip to Louisiana. He will be gone for 4 days. Quite frankly, I am scared to be alone with the babies...especially with these colic episodes we have been having. But I have my parents and his parents here. My cousin Rebecca is coming to see the girls for the first time this week as well, so I am sure I will have her around to help out!

My working out isn't going too well. I never seem to have the time to do it! By the time Ryan gets home at night, I am too tired and I have to go to bed in order to get up for the night feedings. It is very frustrating. I have about 12 pounds left to lose before I am back to my pre pregnancy weight. Aside from all this saggy baggy skin and gigantic milk jugs, I feel like I look pretty good. We have Ryan's 10 year class reunion next weekend and I am hoping to lose another 5 pounds by then....I'm not gonna hold my breath though!

Ok, now is the time for some pictures:
This is one of our first nights out with the babies. We went to Kobe Steaks in Addison. Ryan has been going there since he was a baby and we decided to take OUR babies. It was fun but the girls slept the entire time. The staff was excited to see the girls because Ryan has been a regular customer for his entire life!

Our first Kobe's visit!

We drove to Dallas to get some Sprinkles cupcakes. They are my absolute favorite! I had big intentions of this fun outing with the girls and strolling them through the shopping center while eating our cupcakes. Well in reality, this is how it turned out....it was 100 degrees so we couldn't stroll outside. The store was so crowded that we had to wait in a long line that was wrapped around the building. By the time we got our cupcakes it was feeding time, so we went to the car and gave them a bottle. Then we realized it was rush hour traffic so we drove home! OH WHAT FUN!?!?! It was good to get out of the house never-the-less. Since it was so crowded in the store I didn't get a chance to take their picture in front of the cupcake case, so we had a photo shoot in the to-go bag! It didn't go smooth at all and I also fell off the chair I was standing in and got a bruise on my knee while taking these pictures!!

This is Mary. She lives in Georgia. She is a very close family friend, that also works in the same business as Ryan and his dad. She came to visit and to see the girls for the first time. She doesn't have any grandkids yet, so our girls are her honorary grandchildren!! It was special to have her hold both girls and get their picture taken together.

What would have been our first night out alone

2009-08-08T13:55:00.007-05:00

For over a week now, Ryan and I had decided that a date night was long overdue. We made arrangements for Julie(Ryan's mom) to watch the girls on Saturday night. After many tears and a little screaming....date night is off! Let me tell you the story:

I had a small headache all day Friday that hadn't gone away. In the middle of the night, I woke up and it was BAD. I took several doses of Tylenol throughout the day, but now I had to bring in the big guns. I took 2 of the pills that the doctor had prescribed me during my pregnancy for my headaches. By 6:30 it still wasn't gone, so I took 2 more pills and got out the ice pack. It helped, but by the 9:30am feeding it was back with a vengeance. Somehow by noon, it had gone away finally.

Let me back track now to the middle of the night(while my head was pounding). Kohls was having one of their Friday midnight sales, so my mom and I went shopping from about 9:30 until 11:30. Ryan had the 9:30 feedings by himself and when I got home the girls were tucked in their beds. All was well, so far! I have the 1:30am feeding, so when I got up to change their diapers I noticed that Addison(who eats first)had peed and pooped all over herself--through the swaddle--and onto the sheets. WARDROBE CHANGE #1. After she is fed and back to bed, I go to Ashlyn and low and behold--same thing. WARDROBE CHANGE #2. Well, while we were gone, Ryan decided to put them in the Huggies Preemie diapers that we KNEW don't work. Why he didn't just put them in the diapers that I had laid out for him, I still don't know!! Ryan takes the 5:30am feedings, and as far as I know it went well. The 9:30am feeding also went well. I began to get laundry together from the night and start thinking about getting myself ready for the day. Then I remembered that I hadn't pumped since 2am....TIME TO PUMP! BUT...I had taken so much medicine, I didn't know if I could use the milk or if I needed to dump it! I go to the computer and google before I realized it was ok.

Along comes the 12:30pm feedings and in walks Ryan...GREAT(I thought). I will stick him with Addison and go take a shower. First he changes her diaper and she peed all over the piddle pad. GREAT, MORE LAUNDRY!! He cleans up and starts feeding her. She is almost finished with her bottle and right before I go into the bathroom, I hear Ryan cussing. I came running....Addison had blown beets all over him and the floor, the rocker and her outfit(that I already changed once today). So, I stop what I am doing and get Ryan's pants into the wash so they won't stain. I clean the carpet and the rocker. And I go make Addison another bottle, since she threw it up. By this time it is Ashlyn's turn to eat, so I make Ryan feed her and I take Addison. *still I have had no shower*. I feed Addison, everything is smooth. She burps and I put her back down. Ashlyn finishes up and Ryan(who has no patience) "burps" her and puts her down....all along I was saying, "you haven't burped her long enough, you need to do it longer". I am about to go into the nursery and gather up the new dirty laundry and I hear crying. I go to the bassinet and see vomit all over Ashlyn and the sheets and her outfit! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!? WARDROBE CHANGE #3!! I obviously yell to Ryan, that "I TOLD YOU SO!!!!" -except I wasn't so nice and there were some cuss words added in. So now, it is past 2pm.....I have not showered, I have not done ANY laundry, both girls need a bath, I need to change the crib sheets(since there is pee and poop all over them), and I also need to change the bassinet sheets(since Ryan let her puke on them), and I am supposed to pack for the girls to go to my in laws house for the evening.

The more I think about it, the more angry I get. Then my hormones get in the way and I start crying. There is just no time to get all of this done by tonight. With another feeding in an hour and all of these things to do, we will be lucky to get out of here by 7 or 8pm. So, date night is off...maybe next time!!

DOES ANYONE SEE A COMMON DENOMINATOR IN ALL OF THESE OCCURRENCES? The answer: RYAN!! Don't get me wrong, he is a great daddy and he really does his best. But sometimes he just doesn't listen to me. I am the one who is here with them all day and knows the schedule and knows pretty much everything that needs to be done and how to do it. But yet, when I tell him something he still does his own thing!! These things very very rarely happen to me. I think 2 times someone peed on the piddle pad when I was in charge. Yes, sometimes they spit up....but I am always prepared with a burp cloth to catch it so it doesn't get on their clothes!!!

All I can say is........UGH, MEN!!!

Here is the picture of the laundry that I have to do. Keep in mind this all got dirty in just 1 night.AND THIS IS WITHOUT 3 SETS OF SHEETS AND THE PANTS THAT ARE WASHING RIGHT NOW!!

OUR LIFE IS CRAZY, BUT I WOULDN'T CHANGE IT FOR THE WORLD....EXCEPT A LITTLE DATE NIGHT HERE AND THERE!!!

My girls have a bald spot

2009-08-07T17:42:00.003-05:00

Last night I was feeding Addison and I happened to look at the back of her head and I noticed a little bald spot, where she rubs her head on the bed. NOOOOOOO! Everyone has told me that they will probably lose their hair, but I really didn't want it to happen! Addi's hair is already a little on the thin side and now she is gonna look like a little old man! Ashlyn has more hair, but I noticed a little spot starting to form on her head too! I guess we will be wearing big fat head bands to cover these baldies up!

I took a couple of pictures that I thought I would share....I think they are cute!!
This is us trying to kiss each other(or so mommy says!) Ashlyn is a big cuddler and you can see how much she is enjoying it by the smile on her face!!

Uncle Bub came over after a long day at work. This is his first time to hold us!

Chaos and no sleep

2009-08-06T19:46:00.002-05:00

It has been a couple of weeks since I last blogged....mostly because I have had non stop screaming babies! For example, right now as I sit here typing I can hear Addison throwing a fit in the living room. No reason of course, she is fed, clean and comfy. She's just crying because she wants to be held and she wants to hear the sound of her own voice(which might I add is one of the most annoying cries I have ever heard in my life). She makes this buzzing bee sound and it is SO loud. Ashlyn just quietly squeaks when she cries and it is much more pleasant. Anyway, back to my story. When we went for our 3 week check up the doctor told me that he wants us to start pushing for 4 hour feedings during the night. So, we did....that night we fed at 9:30/10pm and didn't do it again until 1:30/2am. It was a little hectic....Ryan slept on the couch. The next couple of nights actually went pretty smooth and I thought it might be the beginning of them sleeping longer through the night. WAS I WRONG!! Now every night they both wake up at least 30 to 45 minutes early, wanting to eat. I am such a stickler for the schedule and I won't feed them, so I try to make them cry it out. LETS REGRESS BACK TO THE ANNOYING CRY.....I have learned to just turn off the baby monitor and try to sleep. Addison just gets louder and louder though. Most of our house is tile and it echos down the hallway and all the way to our room(which is the complete opposite side of the house). I am seriously afraid the neighbors can hear her. I have now started feeding them half formula and half breast milk for EVERY feeding. The doctor told me that formula doesn't digest as quickly, so they don't get hungry as fast. The other night they both woke up crying. It was about an hour and a half before they were scheduled to feed. There is nothing worse than when they BOTH wake up at the same time...they were crying, I was crying, and we all fell asleep on the couch. I have only been averaging between 2 and 3 hours of sleep a night since that doctor made us change this schedule....they were doing so well before then. DAMN HIM!!

What is more frustrating is that they still are too little to really play with. I guess because they were premature?? They eat and fall right back asleep. I got out one of our swings and one play mat to try to get their attention. They do look at it and seem to enjoy it for about 5 minutes but then they go right back to sleep. The frustrating part is that I talk to other moms who sit around and interact with their kids and it makes me feel lazy and like I do nothing to stimulate them and help them learn.

We still can't take them out anywhere...I guess the most we have done was spend the day at my parents house. Ryan changed electric companies the other day and TXU turned off our power before the other company took over our account. So I packed up and took the girls to Grandad and Mom Mom's house for the day. It was nice actually...they pretty much took all the feedings(16 of them to be exact). I had the day off to just sit there...what I should have done is caught up on sleep!

So far, being a mom is great though. It is WAAAAY harder than I ever imagined. I don't know what it is like to have only 1 baby...but I no longer have sympathy for moms who say they are tired(when they have only 1 baby). THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TIRED IS!! I still cry a lot because I am so stressed and tired and overwhelmed. I get upset sometimes that Ryan goes to work all day and leaves me alone...it makes me feel like a single mom. But at the same time, I know he has to work to make money to support us! I appreciate how determined he is to build his business and make a life for us....I just wish he could sometimes do it from home!!! But now that we got our final bill in from the hospital, he needs to go work!! I had mentioned before that our health insurance doesn't cover maternity costs. SO, our final bill that we have to pay is over $22,000. SO WORK WORK WORK, Ryan....all you need to!!

On another note, I have started to work out again. I have about 15 pounds left to lose before I am back to my pre pregnancy weight. I go to a boot camp 3 days a week and I have started going back to my personal trainer 2 days a week. Now if I could only get rid of all this extra skin....WHEN DOES IT GO AWAY? I totally thought that a month later it should be tightening back up but it isn't!! I guess we will have to start a tummy tuck fund! I have a funny story about all this skin...no one told me that even though you lose the weight, it doesn't mean you will fit back into your pants!! Reality hit me SMACK in the face the other day when I thought I could put them on....I couldn't even get them over my ass!! My maternity pants are too big, but my old pants are too small....it made for a quick shopping trip with my mom. I am now sad to say that I went from a size 2 to a size 8. I guess it will get better, but that number just blows my mind. UGH, it makes me want to go jogging right now!! So now I've been told....DON'T TRY ON YOUR PRE PREGNANCY PANTS FOR AT LEAST 3 MONTHS, NO MATTER HOW MUCH WEIGHT YOU'VE LOST OR HOW GOOD YOU THINK YOU LOOK!! *Thanks Hayley for the wisdom!!

Ok, enough of my complaining. I just needed to vent my frustrations and since everyone that reads this blog is a mom, I figured you all would understand. OH, one last question...I've heard that you can start giving a little bit of rice cereal at about 2 months old, to help them sleep better. IS THAT TRUE? I need your advice...

Our first walk around the neighborhood

2009-07-26T11:11:00.004-05:00

Friday night we decided to take the girls on a walk. We got the stroller out only to realize that even on the smallest setting...it was WAY too big. We couldn't strap them in! But I decided that it wasn't that big of a deal...they can't move and it wasn't like we were going hiking! They pretty much slept all the way through the adventure. I kept asking Ryan if they were having fun(I was behind, pushing the stroller) he would sarcastically say "OH YEAH, THEY ARE HAVING A BLAST!!" All in all, I realized that the outing was more for me than it was for them!!

Addison and Ashlyn

Our first few days

2009-07-15T11:23:00.004-05:00

So it has been only about 4 1/2 days since we have been home. Since then, we have introduced the great grandparents on my side. Ryan's grandparents are coming Thursday and Friday. We have had our first bath at home and we have mastered the art of the all night screaming fits. Its been a blast....but SO tiring.

Ryan laying with Claire....she has been jealous(infact she was sucking on a blanket like a baby the other night. She has never done that before!)

Addison resting with Daddy

"I don't know what this is or where it came from, but I'm ready for it to go away!" -Claire

Nanaw and Dadaw holding their first great grand babies

Ashlyn's first bath

Peekaboo!!

Addison's first bath-she peed in the water!

We didn't intentionally try to make her look like the "High Preistess"

I fell asleep while feeding....OOPS!

coming home

2009-07-15T11:03:00.004-05:00

I wanted to post pictures of the girls on the day they got to come home. They looked so adorable in their car seats because they are just so small. Ashlyn got down to 3 pounds 15 ounces....and she looked like a little mouse in there! Both girls slept on the ride home(even though it was only 10 minutes). We felt so blessed to get to take them home so soon. I know a lot of multiples that didn't get to go home for several weeks. The outfits I bought to bring them home in swallowed them whole! We got their pictures taken before they left the hospital. We are planning on using them for their birth announcements. I can't wait until we get them in so I can post them. Until then, these are the pictures I got.

Addison in her carseat

Ashlyn in her carseat

both girls, just sleeping away!

Daddy carrying them into the house

Our signs--with the deflated stork balloon!

Claire getting her first glipse at the babies

I'm glad to be home (Ashlyn)

The explosive ending to our Fourth of July

2009-07-14T15:04:00.006-05:00

We had gone out to Burleson for the fireworks show that Ryan's parents have in their neighborhood. I was feeling tired and weak so I immediately went to bed as soon as we walked through the door. At about 1:45am I got up to make one of my many bathroom breaks. As I stood up and began walking, I felt a little trickle run down my leg. My first though was...I'm peeing in my pants! After I really did go to the bathroom I stood up and started walking back to bed....and there the trickle was again. At that point I though, "well this couldn't be pee because I just went!" I called my mom and told her that I though my water had broken....I ran and got Ryan(who was passed out on the couch from too much drinking at the fireworks party). Keep in mind, I wasn't packed for the hospital and I have no makeup on. I was surprisingly very calm. I was putting on a little makeup while I was telling Ryan what to throw into a bag. We left for the hospital at about 2:00am and get check in. The nurses were waiting for me because I had called and told them we were headed that way. Luckily I was the only one there at the time and so I had all their attention...which hurried up the process of actually getting me onto the labor and delivery floor. I wasn't hurting, I had no contraction and everything felt normal....but I knew what was coming. They scheduled me for a 7am c-section, so that 2 doctors could be there to deliver both babies. We waited the 5 hours and at about 7:15 they rolled me into the room and gave me my spinal....which turned out to be a breeze compared to what I had envisioned in my mind. I have to say that I didn't enjoy the surgery, but it honestly wasn't bad at all. The worst part of it was that I kept getting nautious on the table so the anesthesiologist had to keep hitting me with more medicine. I remember at one point I started dry heaving and I was afraid the thrusting of my stomach would mess up the surgery...but it didn't!! At 7:30am, Addison was born. She weighed 4 pounds 10 ounces. She was having a little trouble breathing, so they put her on a C-PAP to help her breathe. At 7:32am, Ashlyn was born. She weighed 4 pounds 1 ounce. She was doing a lot better than her sister, so they let Ryan bring her over to me so I could see her. The girls both went into NICU, since they were 6 weeks early. The doctors originally told us that they would stay there for about 2-4 weeks. But 5 days later we got to go home. The girls are amazingly strong for being so preemie. I love being a mom so far...aside from the no sleep(but I guess that is to be expected). I have just been so busy that I haven't had the time to blog about my experiences thus far. Hopefully in the next several weeks I will be able to adjust more and have more time to keep a small "diary" of whats going on in the Wallace house!!

waiting to go into surgery

during my c section

DRUGGED in the recovery room

Ashlyn in NICU....this was my first time to hold her

Addison on her C-PAP. It looked a lot worse than it actually was. She only had to wear it for 24 hours.

This is my first time to hold both babies at once!!

This is the first picture that we have of them together. We were comparing their looks. They are fraternal because they have different blood types, but they do look similar!

HOLY MOLY!

2009-06-30T23:56:00.000-05:00

I realized this morning that I forgot to measure and weigh myself last week when I turned 32 weeks. So, I got up this morning and did it. Hoping that since I had been up all night throwing up (because of a migraine) I would weigh a little less.....I gained 11 pounds in 1 month!!!! HOT DAMN...I can only hope that it is all baby fat, but I'm not stupid enough to believe that! I better lay off of the EL Fudge cookies and the Taco Bell/Bueno(says the girl who just brought home a giant piece of cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory)!

I go to the doctor tomorrow morning and I am praying....PRAYYYYING that he tells me that my cervix has changed. I need to hurry up and get this over with so I can have a margarita and hit the gym. My waist started at 26 inches and now it's an astonishing 41 inches.....can you imagine how my self esteem is at the moment?!?

2009-06-26T12:04:00.000-05:00

First, let me post my new 32 week picture:

I really don't have anything new to blog about. We have just been busy getting everything finished. I finally won the argument with the company in Virginia that I ordered some decorations from, so those are scheduled to be delivered on the 29th. That will be the final decorations for the nursery, so once I get them hung on the wall I will take some pictures and post them. Here is what we have for now:

This is the chest with the butterflies that we found. They technically don't go with our bedding, but I couldn't resist...what girl doesn't like sparkly butterflies?

This is Addison's crib....We couldn't find any letters that we liked here in town so we ordered the letters from a company in Canton and they custom made them for us.

Ashlyn's crib....look familiar!?!

This is the window treatment that my mom made out of ribbons. Because of the lighting, you can't see it very well. It just adds a little extra color to the room and it sparkles in the sunlight.

The toybox and the rug.

Bookshelf...I went to my parents house and raided my old bedroom. I found the hat box and the picture frame in there!!

We also got the playroom decorations hung. That was a big job, but my cousin was super helpful and I pretty much just sat there and watched them work! We still have to clean up in there, so ignore the mess:

The bookself that we bought...then I glued some decorations onto it to make it match the room.

My mother in law told me about a week ago that there is a bassinet in their family that is over 60 years old. I had been contemplating getting something to put in our bedroom for the first few weeks...by no means do I want to make a habit of the babies sleeping in our room...I just thought it would be handy to have for the beginning. Anyway, she drove a total of 6 hours to pick up this bassinet to bring to our house. It needs a little work, but it is SO cute and I think it will work perfectly. My mom and I went to the fabric store and bought foam to make a bumper. We decided to use a drapery panel that matches my crib bedding for the fabric in the bassinet. I think it will turn out really pretty, but most of all it has a lot of sentimental value and I think its special that the girls will get to sleep in there. Here is the undecorated version....although we did find a sheet that fits in there:

For 60 years old...not too shabby, huh? It has been refurbished by Ryan's grandfather who passed away about 3 years ago. Also, Ryan has twin cousins who slept in this bassinet, as well as all of his aunt's and I think his mom as well! It means a lot that we have it now!

I also need to mention that I got our "coming home" outfits delivered. I custom ordered them from a company called Haute Socks. They are are Brownstone Village and Brandi(the owner) is amazing. She made the cutest outfits for the girls. The burp cloths are almost too cute to let them vomit on!! Here are a couple of pictures:

Last but not least, I decided to order "welcome home" signs to put in our yard for when the girls come home. I know I could rent the big storks, but I wanted something that I could keep. I had these made, this is the proof of what they will look like. We are planning to put balloons with them to make them look more baby-ish. But I love them and I'm real excited!!

Well, I had more than I thought I had to report on! I went back to the doctor 2 days ago and he predicted that I have between 2 to 3 1/2 more weeks left. He said my blood pressure will start to sky rocket here in the next couple of weeks and he said that more than likely I will go in for one of my weekly visits and he will tell me to go to the hospital immediately because of my blood pressure. He told me to get ready and stay ready because they can come anytime. I have predicted July 10th for months...so we will see if I'm right!?! He also said that I will more than likely have a c section since only 1 baby is head down. Which is ok with me....I honestly don't care how I get them out!! Thats about it for now. I will post more pictures later on!!

WE GOT A POOL!!

2009-06-11T12:38:00.000-05:00

Its only a $15 walmart plastic pool, but it sure is better than nothing!! I have been trying to layout and get a tan for summer....since tanning beds have given me headaches ever since I have been pregnant. But it has been so hot outside that I couldn't stay out long enough to get any darker. I have wanted a pool for years and finally I jokingly told Ryan to go buy me a walmart pool....and he actually did!!! Here I am laying in the backyard. This picture is humiliating, but its too funny to keep to myself! I am 28 weeks pregnant in this picture. The part that you cant see is that I am facing a wrought iron fence that looks onto another street, so basically the entire neighborhood can see me letting my whale belly hang out!!

I tell you, its the best $15 we ever spent!!

6 weeks longer....are you kidding me???

2009-06-11T12:23:00.000-05:00

So I went back to the doctor yesterday. He checked my cervix and said that it still hasn't changed since the first time I began thinning out. He then says to me,"I think you will get to 34 weeks with no problem". Thats fine....great in fact. 3 weeks will fly by! But then Ryan has to open his big mouth and say "we really need to hold off until about 36 weeks....is that possible you think"? I guess Ryan is thinking about the NICU costs since we have a $5,000 deductable. The less time they spend in there, the more money we save. But the doctor replies with, "yes, I think you can make it. But at the 34 week mark we will take them with no question, should there be any issues". I am frustrated and uncomfortable and I don't think I can take it any longer. I mean I can handle 3 more weeks...maybe even 4. But 5 or 6 more....I DON'T THINK SO!!! It would be great, but I am just being selfish and saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.....lets set a date and take these little things out of me!!

Emotional Basketcase

2009-06-02T12:34:00.001-05:00

I am now a little over 29 weeks(7 months, 1 week). I forgot to take my 28 week picture, so here it is...a little late:

OH MY LORD! It still shocks me that I am this huge. I don't realize how much my belly sticks out until I see these pictures. People always tell me that I am so tiny for having twins...but what they aren't saying is that if I was only having 1 baby I would be the size of one of those seals that sunbathe on the San Francisco pier.

I go in for my glucose test tomorrow at the doctor. It seems kind of silly to me considering that I know I don't have diabetes. But I can't convince the doctor of that. I never updated about the fetal fibronectin tests that I am supposed to be getting every 2 weeks. We got the bill from the lab in the mail the day after we agreed that we will have the test done every 2 weeks.....$636--FOR 1 TEST!!!! So needless to say, we are not getting those done anymore. Instead he is giving me a pelvic exam every week and he checks my cervix. Ryan calls this my "manual"! LOL, he always asks if Dr. Greve gave me the manual today. I am ok with this because it is free and that is always a good thing!!

The stress of everything has finally hit me. I look around this house and see how unorganized and messy everything is....I go to the tanning salon and realize that I have 3 employees to train as well as train someone to do the airbrush tanning too. Yesterday I was blow drying my hair and Ryan came into the bathroom and said something about "I just want to tell you this, but it doesn't mean we have to do it anytime soon..." Well that's as far as he got because I broke down into tears and lost all capability of thinking clearly. I sobbed and said,"please don't put anything else on my plate, I can't handle it. My life is spiraling out of control!!" Come to find out, all he was going to say was that he had a guy coming out to give us a bid on building a retaining wall in the backyard!! We had a good laugh about it. But the fact still remains that I barely have my head above water and I am stressing out SO bad!

I have decided that I am only going to work for 2 more weeks....so the week of the 15th will be my first full week off. I know I need to slow down and rest for the remainder of my pregnancy. But my cousin is also coming into town that week, so I am going to spend time with her and my family. She lives in Albuquerque, so we don't get to see her much and I am so excited that she is coming!!

That's all for now...I don't have much time to blog very much but I will do it again when I need to vent about something else!!! LOL--EVERYONE KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED FOR ME AND PRAY THESE BABIES DON'T COME BEFORE I AM READY!!!

teaching an old dog new tricks--well, TRYING to!!

2009-05-22T17:40:00.000-05:00

We bought a baby doll to try to teach our dog, Claire about babies. We use the word "babies" a lot. I think she is learning what it means. She will eat a diaper out of our diaper stacker and I will say "that is for the baby".....she spits it out only to go back later and shred it when Im not looking!! It is a slow process, but I think she is coming around to it. I hold the baby and tell her to "LOOOOVE the baby". She does get a little more gentle, but she always throws it around when I turn my back and stop talking baby talk. We put a baby gate up in the doorway of the nursery so she can't get in there. I always ask her if she wants to go into the babies room. She knows what that means and she always comes with me and sleeps under the cribs. She is very posessive of it though.....I think she thinks it is HER nursery!?! We have a long way to go with her, but I think we can do it. She is just so spoiled and she has been our baby for the past 2 years. I just feel bad that she has NO clue what is in store for her. Her life is going to change forever and she won't understand. Most dogs only have to adjust to 1 baby....and she has 2 to adjust to!! Im afraid she will think we love her less. :(

This is what I came home to this afternoon!! I hope she doesn't eat our children!!!

Claire "loooving the baby"!

When we first found out that we were pregnant with twins, my dad told me that the reason God gave us 2 children was because Claire would kill and eat one....this way we will have a child leftover!!! LOL--actually thats not so funny (well maybe a little bit)!!!

Paige VS. Pavement

2009-05-11T10:09:00.000-05:00

I took a little tumble yesterday(Mother's Day of all days). I was leaving the salon and I had a load of folding chairs in the back of my car. When I turned on the car my dash message said "rear access open". My first thought was that I should not be moving chairs by myself, but what was I to do....I was alone?!? So I climbed into the back seat and rearranged the chairs so that they wouldn't fall out of the back gate. I thought I had them positioned quite well, so I got out and went to open the back gate. LOW AND BEHOLD it was like a tidal wave of metal chairs that came spilling out. I tried to catch them but I didn't stand a chance. They completely knocked me from a standing position to flat on my back. The chairs were piled on top of me. I wasn't hurt..other than my butt cheek that all 150 pounds of me landed on. But it scared me. I think my adrenaline started pumping so I got up and threw all the chairs into the car...while cussing! When I got back up front the dash still said "rear access open" but I figured I was going to go home anyway. As I turned onto Green Oaks, I could hear cars passing me and I thought I might dump all these chairs on the freeway if I were to drive any further. So I decided to stop at my mom's wedding chapel because I knew there was help up there. I pulled in and saw one of the photographers, who is a close friend of ours and asked him to help. Come to find out, it wasn't the stupid "rear access" it was the "rear window"! So basically all I had to to was shut the window instead of open the gate! My mom heard all the noise, so she came out and of course I immediately lost it and started crying hysterically. I was scared, my butt hurt, and I was mad at Ryan for not taking the chairs out the night before. Anyhow...I did have a lot more contractions last night than usual. But everything seems to be ok! In the end, in the battle versus me and the pavement...the pavement won!!

orange leopard

2009-05-06T13:43:00.000-05:00

As you know, I own a tanning salon. About a year ago we got sunless airbrush tanning--which is SO much better than mystic tan. I am the airbrush technician, so when I want to get sprayed there really isn't anybody who is trained to do it. Anyway, on Monday night I asked my mom to come spray me and she agreed. OMG...I have never been so orange in my life. Not because of the color though....its because she has no clue what she was doing and she just drenched me in solution!!! I have scrubbed my feet until I have only 1 layer of skin left. My armpit is literally copper and I have a white stripe by my elbow!! My baby shower is on Saturday and I look like an animal who should be on the endagered species list!!! At least I have a story behind the pumpkin coloring!

On another note....I went back to the doctor today(YES AGAIN!) Still good news, except I am pretty much going to be living there for the remainder of my pregnancy! He told me that I need to continue coming for a check up every week. I am going to be getting the Fetal Fibronectin tests every other week. I have a sonogram every 3 weeks just to make sure the babies are growing and have plenty of fluid. And last but not least, they gave me a medicine called Procardia to help stop my contractions. He said I will be on these pills until I am about 36 weeks(if I last that long). This just makes me realize how lucky all you girls are that have only 1 baby.....it must be a breeze!!! I booked my 3D/4D sonogram for Monday the 11th and I am SOO SOO SOO excited. I can't wait to see what they look like and if they look like me or Ryan!!

yet another doctor's visit...

2009-04-29T21:58:00.000-05:00

I had another 2 week checkup today and had a surprising test done. Everything was going as usual until the doctor asked me if I was still having contractions. I said yes, but just small Braxton Hicks contractions like usual. He asked how many a day I could guess-timate....I lied and told him about 10-15 per day(when it is actually more like 20-30). I thought he would be pleased at the lowered number that I had given him, but instead he threw me a gown and said,"congratulations-you just bought yourself a pelvic exam!" SO, he did a test called a Fetal Fibronectin Test (sp?)--it is supposed to measure if you are going to go into premature labor within the next 2 weeks. He said that we will have the results on Thursday and that he would call me and let me know how it turns out. If it comes back positive then I am on bed rest. YIKES--everyone pray its negative!!! Also, if we get a positive result then I have to start getting steroid shots in order to make the babies develop faster just in case they do decide to make an early debut! Now instead of every 2 weeks, I have to go in every week to get checked. The doctor said that we have hit a milestone over the past week because if I were to go into labor, the babies could survive now....so thats a plus I guess!! I don't think anything will come of this crazy test, but I guess more than anything it was just a precautionary measure....better safe than sorry!

2009-04-26T16:48:00.000-05:00

I thought I would post a picture of this month's progress...and by that I mean belly growth!! This is my 24 weeks picture. I don't feel like I grew as much this month as I did last month, but I guess that is to be expected. I am steadily gaining around 8 pounds a month....this month I grew another 1 1/2 inches around! LOL, I can't believe I have a 38 inch waist!!!!

This is me asking Daddy to go get us Taco Bueno!!

As I had mentioned in my last post, we got our gates to block in the dining room.....to my surprise they were IMPOSSIBLE to install. We finally got the small side finished(over a week later) but we still have the long side to do. I thought it would be nice of me to post a picture of Ryan painting the plastic brackets that mounted to the wall....he thought it would look better, and it does!! Here is my wonderful husband hard at work

Last but not least. I have been slowly.....and I mean sloooowly working on the playroom. I still havent hung anything on the wall because my mom(helper/handyman) went out of town last week. However, I got the fence built and painted. Ryan needed a better visual of how it would potentially look, so we laid some of the decorations along the fence. It will eventually get to the point where everything is hung.....just give me time!!!! OH and the little rockers that my mother in law(Julie) gave to me for easter came in......they are Fergie the Frog and LuLu the Ladybug!! How adorable are they? I can't wait for my little babes to ride them and rock and sing!!!

I worked WAY too much last week so I intend on putting myself on partial bedrest this week and taking it easy. I only work 3 days this week, so hopefully I can get a lot done. I go back to the doctor on Wednesday for my 2 week checkup....I will have to tell him how good I am being this week--I won't mention last week though!!! LOL

Where has the time gone?

2009-04-17T15:15:00.001-05:00

So, here I sit looking at the calendar.....HOLY MOLY-I am almost 6 months pregnant! All of a sudden reality has hit me and I am realizing that the babies could be here in 12 weeks!

The UPS man delivered out gates today...oh did I not mention that since our dog pees in the house that we had to get new carpet and now we have to block our dining room in with these WONDERFULLY BEAUTIFUL gates so she won't ruin our carpet again!!! Anyway, we have to put them together tonight. As mad as I am about this "gate thing" I have to admit that its better than what we have blocking our dining room right now. I went to Home Depot and got the bright orange construction fence. We have it zip tied and taped to our chairs and walls so she can't get in there!! CLASSY, REAL CLASSY!!

I had a doctor's appointment this week. He said everything is looking good, but he wants me to start coming in every 2 weeks from now on. My back has been killing me lately and he advised me to look into some prenatal yoga. As fun as this seems....I can't imagine stuffing myself into workout clothes and actually going out in public. So, I think I might try to look at videos online that I can buy so I can look like a stuffed sausage in the privacy of my own home!! By the way....why don't they make work out clothes for pregnant people? I would be a millionaire if I wanted to go into the maternity clothes making business because there is just not much selection out there!

To everyone that has been commenting on some of my blogs.....sorry I have never responded. Until just now, I haven't figured this whole blog thing out and I just realized that you left comments on my page!! I wasn't trying to ignore you all on purpose!!

22 week update

2009-04-12T21:42:00.000-05:00

It has been too long since I've done a post. A lot has happened since last time. I had a hospital visit because I was having contractions......I got all our nursery furniture delivered and semi-put together....I bought all our playroom decorations.....and Ryan bought a Harley Davidson.

First things first, the hospital visit was kinda scary because I came home from work having what I thought were just a lot of Braxton Hicks. After I laid down for an hour or so I was still having them about every 5 minutes, so I decided to call the doctor. I wasn't in pain, I just wanted to know why I was having SO many. Long story short, he immediately made me go to the hospital to get monitored. The nurses said I did the right thing by coming in and I was definitely having "uterine activity". They gave me a shot of progesterone to relax my uterus an sent me home 3 hours later. The next day was our appointment with the perinatologist(Dr. Goldaber). He looked at the babies and said they looked great. They are measuring in size about a week ahead of what they actually are. They are 1 pound each(at 20 weeks) and growing rapidly. He said teh reason I had the contractions is because my body is beginning to feel the weight of the babies and I just need to slow down. So, I am now only working 2 or 3 days a week(if that). I feel so helpless and needy. I can't lift anything heavy or clean the house. I feel like a wortheless fat pig!!

We got the nursery furniture in and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice everything was. After finding out about twins, I had to downgrade all the beautiful furniture I had picked out since we needed 2 of everything. I found some things at JC Penney and ordered them. All the furniture is put together now and I have all the bedding in the cribs but the walls are still bare. I have more decorating to do before I'm finished. Here are a few pictures:

My mom and I made a trip to Canton to try to find some cute baby things and we stumbled onto our playroom decorations. I am a LONG way from being finished with this room because for the past 2 1/2 years that room has been our storage room since no one ever went in there! We are making headway on it though. I built a decorative fence yesterday to hang on the wall. I have to paint it white so it will match our garden theme. Here are a few pictures of the decorations but they are just leaning against the wall now. Please over look the piles of junk!

Last but not least...Ryan found a Harley V-ROD at an auction in Dallas. I had a period where I was gung-ho about him getting a bike, but I think it was just the pregnancy talking! Anyway, he got preapproved at the bank and put several bids on this bike. He ended up winning the auction--after getting in a bidding war with someone and spending over $2,200 more than what he was approved for through the bank! I could kill him...but Ryan never does anything for himself and if this makes him happy then I can't be mad at him for that. I laid a few ground rules(some of which he has already broken) so pray that he is safe on his new "hog"!

That is all for now. I will try to do better on posting updates on our progress. I go back to the doctor this Wednesday(April 15th) so maybe I will find something out that is worth blogging about!

I have several things to discuss...

2009-03-29T16:49:00.000-05:00

1. VEINS! What is up with all the blue veins in my belly? I look like a road map! No one ever told me that my skin would become see through and that every vein and artery in my body would show through! What is up with this?!?

2. For some reason I have this strange feeling that July 10th will be the day that I deliver. So today while I was looking at the calendar I counted how many weeks it was until July 10th and it is only 15 more!!!!! YAY!!! Although, it would be nice to have only 15 weeks left....how cool would it be to have them on July 4th? That way their birthday would always be a celebration.....so maybe I should pray for July 4th!

3. I rode a motorcycle yesterday! Well, not on the street obviously, but I got on the back of one with Ryan and we drove about 15 MPH down his parents driveway and back. The worst thing about this is that I have always been against street bikes, but now I am DYING for Ryan to get one! I think we might go to the Harley dealership this week sometime to go check them out.

4. I ordered new carpet for the dining room and nursery yesterday. Hopefully by the end of the week we will have new carpet installed. Although we just built this house 2 years ago, Claire(our beagle) had decided that the area around our dining room table is "grass". She has peed all over it and it is ruined. I also started looking at the room that will be the nursery and it isn't much better. So my next project is to buy some gates so that Claire isn't allowed in those rooms anymore!

5. I turned 20 weeks yesterday. Here is the newest picture of my belly. I hate it because I am so fat and white, but HEY--what can ya do?!? After seeing how white I am, I have decided that I am going to start tanning. *YES, don't panic-you can tan while you are pregnant. It doesn't go past your skin layer and its completely safe for the babies...I just have to have help getting out of the bed because I have no waist these days and I can't bend!!!!*

Oh My Aching Back

2009-03-27T12:54:00.000-05:00

This week I have gotten so uncomfortable. I can't breathe, I can't lay down, my back hurts, my sides hurt, I can walk across a room and become winded! I haven't had a good night's sleep in days. If I lay on my stomach and finally get comfortable, one of the babies will kick and I feel like I am suffocating her, so I turn over and become uncomfortable again! I just turned 5 months(20 weeks) today. As close as 3 1/2 months sounds....it also seems like a lifetime away! Hopefully the second half of this pregnancy will go as quickly as the first half did! To date, I have gained 21 pounds. The doctor said in order to have more of a chance to go "full term" I should gain 24 pounds by my 24th week. Looks like I better slow down on the bean burritos!

my "innie" is becoming an "outie"

2009-03-27T12:38:00.000-05:00

So I went shopping yesterday to find some new clothes to wear. I am in the dressing room checking my (big) self out in the mirror, when I see this little dot through my shirt. I can't help but start laughing at the fact that my belly button is beginning to turn inside out! I have always heard that it is possible, but NEVER did I think it would actually happen to me!!

Kicks

2009-03-27T12:35:00.000-05:00

In the wee hours of March 17th I think I felt my first kick. I was just over 18 weeks. I couldn't feel it inside me, but if my hand was on my stomach I could feel a little thump! The next morning, I was able to feel them without putting my hand on my stomach. They woke me up at 6AM for 2 days in a row! It makes it feel so much more REAL now.....I actually have 2 little humans in my belly!

Dresses, shoes and bows galore!!

2009-03-27T12:33:00.001-05:00

March 17-18th my mom and I took a trip to San Marcos to go shopping. MY OH MY, did we spend some money! They have their wardrobe for their first 18 months pretty much taken care of! We even found the dresses that will be perfect for their 1st birthday party! We bought them of course and are planning to do the color scheme for the party based off the colors in their dresses! It will be amazing, I just know it!

Weiners or Hot Dog Buns?

2009-03-27T12:27:00.000-05:00

At 16 weeks I took matters into my own hands and went to Ultraview Imaging to see if we could see what the sexes of the babies were. Dr. Greve was holding his ground on not letting me know until I was 20 weeks.....but I couldn't wait any longer. I HAD TO FIND OUT!!! I had a feeling they would both be boys, but we were actually hoping for a boy and a girl. Keep in mind I was still coming out of the morning sickness and headache stage, so I swore I would never have kids again...one of each would be ideal! Boy was I wrong! They were both girls....GIRLS! Ryan is going to be out numbered so bad! But shopping will be so much fun!

Could they be Dwarfs?

2009-03-27T12:20:00.000-05:00

February 21, 2009: So everyone I have bumped into keeps saying, "you are so small to be having twins"...."you are so tiny". So I just started wondering.....could they be dwarfs? Maybe the reason my belly isn't getting so big is because they are so tiny?!? What if they are born and they are only 10 inches long? I cried to Ryan about it. That was really my first hormonal emotional pregnant lady episode. He laughed at me and told me that they were normal size. The next morning I woke up and I felt fine....like my crazy dwarf fears never even happened!

Morning sickness and headaches

2009-03-27T12:14:00.001-05:00

All I can say about this is that I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. They call it morning sickness but it literally lasts all day everyday. Blowing beats for no reason(sometimes in the pantry or car) is never a good thing. I had to take barf bags with me wherever I went! I learned that sucking on Jolly Ranchers helped with the constant urge to upchuck and dry heave. It started at about 5 weeks and lasted until 13 weeks....but then the migraines got bad. They say it is due to the fact that my hormones were double as high as a normal pregnant person. Dr. Greve prescribed me Esgic for my headaches and it was the miracle drug. I took the pills for about a month or so....now Tylenol is taking the edge off just fine!

How many are there?!?

2009-03-27T11:47:00.000-05:00

On January 7, 2009 we had our first appointment with out doctor. I was about 8 weeks along already so we also got to have our first sonogram. Several weeks prior to this appointment, I had a strange dream that I was going to have twins. I told my family and friends about it, but we all thought it was a long shot that a dream would turn out to be true. Well, it was true! During our first sonogram, the technician only had the screen up for 5 seconds before she announced that there were 2 babies! Ryan and I just died laughing. First, a semi-unplanned pregnancy and now TWINS?!? We should have played the lottery that day as well because we were the luckiest couple on earth! As we left, we were both on our cell phones calling everyone we knew to tell them that there were 2! No one believed us until I posted pictures of the sonogram on my Myspace page!

A couple of weeks later, the reality of it all set in and I got a little freaked out. Not about having 2 babies, but about what it was going to do to my body! I am 5'1 and 119 pounds....I was going to look like a walrus! The doctor said I would gain about 60 pounds......YIKES! I am worried about bedrest, preterm labor, what will happen to my business if I can't work....I am afraid of pretty much everything!

Our second appointment went pretty smooth. I came in with a list of 26 questions for the doctor about all the "what if's". Dr. Greve's eyes got big when I handed the list over and told him to answer all of them. It was like a book report! He spent the entire appointment reassuring me that he would be up front and honest with things. If he wasn't worried about something, then I shouldn't be worried about it either. I felt much better when we left. OH! We also got to hear the heartbeats for the first time....it was so cool!!

PREGNANT!

2009-03-27T11:18:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I am starting this a little late(5 months to be exact) but never-the-less I am starting it!! I am going to begin by letting everyone know exactly what has happened over the last several months and then we can add day by day from there!

On December 5, 2008(Ryan's birthday)...I realized that my "monthly gift" was a day late. I had already been suspecting that I might be pregnant--intuition I guess. Ryan had left early that morning to go play basketball with some friends, so I decided to go to CVS while he was gone to get some tests. Since we weren't technically planning on getting pregnant just yet, I wasn't sure how he would take a positive test result, so I took the test without him being home. LOW AND BEHOLD IT WAS POSITIVE! I will not write exactly what I screamed out loud in the bathroom....but I just covered my mouth with both hands cried, laughed and stared at myself in the mirror. I planned on wrapping up my positive test and giving it to Ryan for his birthday gift. The more I got to thinking about everything, I started wondering if this could be a "false postive" result so I took 3 more tests...all of which turned out positive!! I quickly wrapped everything up in a box and wrote a quick poem and waited for Ryan to get home................
There he sits on the fireplace with me videotaping him(he HAD to know something was up). I turned on the camera and told him to unwrap his gift. He read the poem in silence and just sat there looking down--no emotion. I asked him if he knew what the present might be----he looked up at the camera and said, "are you pregnant?" That was the end of the video, because I could see that he was a little freaked out and didn't want to be on camera!! After we talked and got over our laughing and crying spell we went to both of our parent's houses and showed them our video....they were shocked, but thrilled! Then we went to Hooters for a "romantic" meal of wings!!!