Kissing Cousins

We went over to my sister in law Sonia's house to celebrate Christmas a little over a week ago. While we were there my great nephew Ethan kept grabbing Zoë's face and kissing her. It was so funny. She would get so mad, so we finally had to keep Ethan away for a while.

Engaged

Well he finally popped the question. Tonya and Matt had started planning their wedding,but weren't engaged yet. But the other night he took her to the pier where they had their first kiss and proposed.
My sister Danielle(maid of honor) had made us an appointment at David's Bridal on Sunday. All the bridesmaids (except one) my mom, and Tonya were there. We all tried on dresses. Since the wedding will be on the beach we were looking for light wearing(not to hot) but still cute.

This isn't the best picture, but we all loved this dress on Tonya.

This is the color of bridesmaid dresses she wants.

This is the dress that my mom really liked.

Angela and I liked this green floral the best for a beach wedding. It was very light wearing and fit good. Matt and Tonya aren't planning on getting married until June of 2010 so it gives us some time to get everything done.

Christmas

Well after much anticipation it finally came. Mitchell and Cassidy had been counting down days for weeks. On Christmas Eve we kept the computer on to track Santa. Every 10 minutes or so one of them would check the computer and tell me which part of the world he was in. They were so excited I about never got them to sleep. They finally fell asleep around eleven. Zane was the first to awake on Christmas morning. He was so excited to see all of the tree. We had the couch in front of the tree this whole time. But early that morning I was up moving furniture and arranging presents. Everyone woke up then we took turns opening presents and then had a nice breakfast together. Cassidy is starting to figure things out though. I'm not the best at hiding presents and she had seen her Santa gifts in my room earlier in the week. So I told her Santa sent a few presents ahead of time. It was a very enjoyable Christmas, but it was also very tiring. I think I will try to take some vacation days around Christmas next year.

Giving Thanks

I know Thanksgiving was several weeks ago. But, better late than never. We had Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house this year. And it was wild and crazy as usual. But we wouldn't have it any other way. My parents are actually living in Nashville now. My sister Angela and her children are living in their house now. Angela has found her a really nice person, whom she has been dating for several weeks now. And he is really good with the kids. But any way look at Mitchell in deep pray in this picture. No one put him up to this. He kept asking us if he could eat. After about fifteen minutes we noticed he was praying. I guess he thought if he couldn't get us to give him any food he would go straight to God. He sat like this for several minutes. So we had to get a picture. This is a picture of the crazy family. The man next to my sister Tonya is her soon to be fiance. His name is Matt and he too is a really nice guy. They are not officially engaged, but they have started planning the wedding. It will be on a cruise ship in June of 2010.

Austin, Mitchell, Danielle and Meriah

This is a picture of Matt, Tonya, Danielle and Mercedes outside of Ryan's at 7am on black Friday. Angela and I were also there but not in the picture. All of us had gotten up and out of the house at 3:45 that morning and headed to Kohls. Then walmart and then to Ryan's for a big breakfast. I go shopping with at least one of my sisters every year on black Friday. This year we all got to go together. I don't think Matt will go again though. I look forward to it every year. It has to be a group effort though. It's not fun by yourself. Plus you have to have someone wait in line.

This is a picture of Zoë and Zane on my parents porch. They were having lots of fun on the swing.

This is Zoë in time out. Zane and Zoë have had to spend a little time in here lately. Of course brother was entertaining her in this shot.

Ride for Two

My parents got Zane and Zoë this new little ride on toy for Thanksgiving. They thought one would be enough and they could share. When they first got it they both sat on it then proceeded to fight over it. But as you can see their learning to share(at least for the moment).

Halloween Night 08'

Every Halloween we take a picture of the kids in this same spot with this sign. The twins did not want to cooperate this year, so I put two pictures to catch a glimpse of them. There is never enough time Halloween day. I think they should make it a holiday(like I need another day off as a postal worker). There is just not enough time at night to do it all. John took off of work that day and got Mitchell and Cassidy home from school and dressed. But by the time I picked up the twins from day care, drove home and got them ready it was almost 5pm. We went and visited are neighbors. Jumped in the van to go visit some friends from work. Grabbed something to eat and then went to another friends house. We parked at our friends house and walked around her neighborhood until we found the house of another co-worker. It was a great night to be out trick or treating. Cassidy was our trick or treat er. Mitchell only wanted to scare little kids. He really got into character. He didn't really care about getting any candy. After trick or treating and then visiting with our friends we finally made it to Grandma and Grandpas. Of course by then Zane was into a deep sleep. It was a busy night but it was lots of fun. Ware wolf(Mitchell),Sharpay(Cassidy),Piglet(Zoë) and Chicken(Zane)

Community Halloween

Last Wednesday the kids painted pumpkins at church. The next night we all met back at the church. The kids dressed in their costumes and handed out pumpkins to the residents of Grant Village. The kids had a ball and it was nice to see some of our church neighbors. Here's a picture of Zane , Zoë and Samuel. With my lovely assistant Meriah.

We tried our best to get a picture of all of the kids afterwards. But I think all the sugar from the candy started to kick in.

My School

Here are a few pictures from My School (the daycare Zane and Zoe) attend. In this picture you can see Zane's shiner. He fell a few weeks ago in church and that bruise just popped up. Here's Zoe waiting for snack time.

This is my great nephew Ethan. He attends My school too. He was enjoying his bananas with chocolate dip that they had for snack. I had to run back out and get my camera. I couldn't miss capturing that happy face.

Halloween Fest

I took the kids to Halloween Fest at Preston Miller park a little over a week ago. It was earlier in the day this year and it was a shorter time period. The lines for the booths seemed really long. We stayed for a little while, but Mitchell and the twins got tired quickly. Mercedes and Cassidy had a ball. Those two love games. Zane the Lion.

Zoë as Piglet.

Cassidy as Sharpay(High School Musical), Mercedes the Prom Queen and Mitchell the werewolf

Jackson's Orchard

We went to Jackson's two weeks ago. I'm just now finally getting the pictures up. Of course it was warm and sunny that day as you can tell from the shorts and short sleeves. It was busy, but it was fun. I couldn't get all of my kids to look at the camera at the same time. So I had to pick the picture with the most kids looking in the right direction. This is my friend Dorcus. She came out and spent the day with me and my traveling circus.

Angela, Danielle and Mercedes also came and met us up there, but I didn't get their picture. Angela took this picture of me with the twins. Zane was ready to get down. The twins are professional walkers now. They are on the verge of running now(help).

We all had fun and we enjoyed are yummy apple slushies.

PINK's Son?

No he's not Pink's son, but he looks like he could be with his sisters wild pink wig. Well John wasn't to thrilled to see a picture of his son with a pink wig. But the rest of us thought he looked too cute. Plus Zane must have liked it he kept putting it back on.

Our Little Chicken

I picked up a new costume the other day. I tried it on Zane earlier in the day and he didn't know what to think of it. Later that night I decided to try it on Zoë. She was so entertaining that I had to take pictures. Zoë with her cheesy grin.

She looks like she's trying to lay an egg in this pose.

Mitchell couldn't resist to pick up his cute little sister.

She was having trouble standing up in the costume. She kept falling over and rolling around. We couldn't stop laughing. But it didn't hurt her because of all the stuffing.

I've got three costumes for Zane and Zoe for Halloween. I'm not sure which ones they'll wear yet. I have the chicken, a lion and a piglet costume.

Where did September go?

I can not believe it is the first of October already. It just felt like September began. This time of year just gets so busy. Zane and Zoë are officially walkers. I tried to delay it as long as possible, but they figured it out. Zoë has even figured out that she needs to turn around to get down the step in our back hall. And now she is trying learn the computer. My nieces Mercedes and Meriah celebrated their 11th birthday on the 16th. (They were due Oct. 9th, my twins were due Oct.8th, they were hoping that they would have had the same birthday). Plus my baby sister Danielle celebrated her 24th birthday on the 29th.

We also got together with my friend Leslie and her girls Abby and Amelia. We met at Culver's for dinner and then went to see Disney on Ice in Nashville. This is a picture of Amelia loving on Zane. She couldn't keep her hands off of him. The kids really enjoyed the show. Zoë stayed with my sister Angela, because we didn't have enough room in the van. So how do you choose who goes and who stays. Zoë hates her rear facing car seat. She tries to pull her self up and screams. She is so close to that 20 lbs.

This last weekend my sister Tonya came to town and brought her boyfriend Matt. We only got to spend Friday night with them, but it was better than nothing. They came over for dinner and then we all went to the B.G. vs. Central game. Yes Central got slaughtered.

Saturday we went to a birthday party and the International festival. The kids as usual enjoyed the inflatables. I think we will go to the festival either earlier or later in the day next year. It was so crowded in the middle of the afternoon.

Work has been getting busier. The mail usually picks up this time of year. Plus with elections coming up there's usually lots of political mail. Zane and Zoë are into everything. I've been trying to baby proof. I love this time of year with family and holidays.

Community Block Party

Our Church put together a block party for the people in the neighborhood surrounding our church building. We had a good turn out and the kids seemed to have a blast. Cassidy said it was the greatest. There was an inflatable, water gun city, horse and buggy rides and lots of other fun activities. It was a great way to meet the people in our community.

NICU Reunion

Last Sunday the Medical Center held their first NICU reunion. They have been serving babies in their NICU for over 20 years. But it has been the last year or so that they have been able to take care of babies in more critical conditions. Zane and Zoë had to stay in the NICU for twelve days. Thank goodness they didn't have any serious conditions. They just had to learn to eat and to gain some weight. I was so thankful that they were able to stay in BG instead of having to go to Vandy. Having two older kids at home, it would have made it even harder. We did a lot of running around those few days. I would drop the older kids off at school then go to the hospital. While there I would hold and feed the babies, pump some milk, change their diapers and clothes, and just get used to smaller babies. I would usually come back and forth to the hospital several times during the day. I wanted to spend quality time with the little babies and the big babies. My babies had to have several feeding tubes put in and out. They would eat good and then they wouldn't eat good. Poor Zane had his feeding tube pulled out three times by his sweet little sister. They shared the same incubator. It was so nice to finally bring them home. But we did enjoy the wonderful staff in the NICU. So we went back to visit.
I thought this was funny. They had this fake doll in the incubator at the reunion.
Mitchell with me at the reunion.

We got so attached to Dorcus. She is such a great nurse and friend. She took such good care of our babies. You can tell she loves what she does.

These are the G twins. Their mom works at our doctors office.

I think Cassidy had the most fun at the reunion. They had lots of games and prizes. We had to make her leave.

Danielle with Twins

OK so Angela and I are always teasing our two younger sisters about them having twins. So when Danielle grabbed both babies the other day I had to take her picture.

Babies at 12 Months

As a mom of twins I'm always trying to think of the fastest, easiest, less stressful way of doing things. Like the time I took all of my children to Kroger for a test run. I think the babies were only a couple of months old. I decided it was time for me to take all of them out to the store on my own to see how things would go. I didn't have any major shopping to do, so I figured it would be a good night to test things out. Shopping is always a challenge with young children. That's why it is always good to pray before you go into a store with several young children. And when they do start acting up just ignore everyone staring at you. Well anyway I was able to hold one baby and put the other in the cart that night. Mitchell and Cassidy listened and everything went smoothly. Now that it's several months later it seems silly to me. Because I take the kids out by myself all the time now. Of course it is a lot easier with assistants. The other day I was feeding the twins their dinner and cleaning the kitchen at the same time. Then it finally hit me to just give them a bath in the sink after dinner. Mothers have been doing it for years. It has made this last week a lot smoother. I can keep most of their dinner mess in a small area and still talk to the other baby while bathing the other. I tried putting both babies in our big tub the other night. With about two inches of water and a towel on the bottom of the tub. Not a good idea! Both babies stood up and went sliding down. Do you know how hard it is to grab to wet naked babies? I don't think I'll be trying that again for a while. Zane enjoying his sink bath. Plus he got enough water on the floor that I was just able to get the mop out and clean it.

Zoë loves the sink too!

Zane and Zoë have started sitting in all the little chairs in the house. They are doing so many new things. I love it now that their personalities really start showing and they are starting to figure more things out. But they are also starting to get more adventuress too. I found Zane on the couch yesterday. He climbed up all by himself. All of my children are climbers. Zoë almost climbed out of the port a crib a few days ago. Mitchell and Cassidy both climbed out of their cribs by 18 months.

They are both saying Daa Daa and Maa Maa now. Zane is starting to get clingy when I drop him off in the morning. They will be moving to the one year old room in day care next week. They both are taking several steps, but their not walking yet. But that's OK with me. They are already speed crawlers.

They love it when John grabs their arms and legs and swings them. Who needs an amusement park when you have dad.