Rewards From Him




Psalm 127: 3
Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.

Psalms 139: 13-16
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Love


Jack's First Haircut

We finally made an appointment to get Jack's hair cut. Someone (OK, me!) was being a baby about cutting his hair off. I don't know why, but it was emotional for me. I'm having trouble dealing with the fact that the twins are almost two, and they aren't babies anymore. Every mom has trouble with that right? So anyway, we took Jack to Snips, which is a friend of the Anderson Family, and the woman who has always cut Matt's hair. We thought that would be best since we set up the tripod, and videotaped the whole thing! We wanted someone who would be OK with that! So here is the story in pictures of the big day for Jack.
Here is a before shot. His hair was so long in the back, long enough for a ponytail. Too long for a boy! Matt and I think he knew something was up at this point, and he looks a little apprehensive.
Jack sat with Daddy for a little while Judy got things set up. I tried to get some pictures of how long his hair had gotten.
Judy had a little chair for Jack to sit on, and he was happy to sit there. He didn't mind the cover up after Judy showed took his arms out from underneath. She also gave him some combs to hold. All is well at this point.
And then things went south! As soon as Judy sprayed Jack's hair to get it wet, he lost it. Then it got worse when she came at him with sissors! He was not a happy camper. Even a lollipop didn't soothe him!
Sophie was content to sit in a little chair, and eat her lollipop. She didn't mind that her brother was screaming his head off!
At this point I picked Jack up, and held him while he got his hair cut. It was a little less traumatizing while mommy held him. I'm a "mean mommy," and sometimes I had to hold his head still. Even though I was holding him, he wasn't happy.


After a while he calmed down enough that Judy got a snip in here, and a snip in there, and before we knew it, we were done!

After the drama of the hair cut, Judy gave the kids little bags of pretzels, and they sat and ate while we chatted. Poor Jack. But he looks very handsome with his new haircut!

I held it together, and didn't cry. And Judy cut his hair exactly how we asked for it to be cut. He looks so much better, and older without the shaggy hair! What a big boy! After Jack was done, Matt told Sophie that she was next, and she started crying hysterically! Mean Daddy. Not this time though, Sophie. She has some very sweet curls on the back of her head, and we are going to let them grow for a little bit. All in all, it was a very successful day!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Kangaroo Climber

We got the twins a new climber for the backyard! They love it! And the best part? It was cheap because we bought it used from Craigslist. Shhh! Don't tell the twins, they have no idea. Jack jumped right in, and climbed all over it, and used the slide. It took Sophie a couple of days, and then, on her own time, she slid down the slide. Now she loves it, and that is the first place she goes when we go outside. I love that summer and warm weather days are here. Jack loves to pick up his "steeeks." And Sophie loves hanging out in the breeze, and spinning in circles. Fun, fun, fun!


Tuesday, May 5, 2009

We've been busy!

Has it been almost two months since my last post? As my grandmother would say, "EEKKK!" In my defense, we have been super busy. I feel like I don't ever have a chance to sit down and take a breath, let alone write a blog post. Matt really started to bug me about getting back into writing posts, and he's right. I need to keep recording our life! HA! So, here is two months worth of posts. Get ready to go into picture overload. And maybe you'll be as surprised as me, as to how much bigger the twins look than two months ago. They sure aren't babies anymore, sigh. Enjoy the posts, and I will defintely get back into writing them!

Sophie's Ultrasound

Yesterday we had an ultrasound at the hospital for Sophie. It was her six month checkup. I was dreading the ultrasound, because I knew Sophie would hate it. After about ten minutes of solid screaming, the ultrasound tech had all of the pictures she needed. It wasn't TOO bad, but I would like to not repeat it any time soon! The Dr. said that Sophie looks great, and that she won't have to see him again for two years. Do you think at 3 1/2 she might not scream? Praise God for healing, and taking care of Sophie! We are so thankful that she only had to have one surgery, and that now her renal system is working!

Sprinkler Fun!

We had ninety degree weather two weekends ago, and we needed a way to cool off. We bought this big ball that hooks up to the hose, and shoots water out of little holes. After Matt and I passed out from blowing the ball up, and we covered our kids in sunscreen, we let the kids have at it. They liked it at first, until we turned the water up, and then it was too much cold water all at once. We turned the water back down, and they had tons of fun!










Too much water!
Getting reasurances from Daddy.


Playing Outside

It has been such a nice spring, and we have tried to get out as much as we can. The kids love being outside, and stand at the door everyday, hoping I will take them out! We have lots of outside toys for them, but they are most happy picking up sticks, rocks, and pine cones, and playing in the dirt.
Sophie feeling the breeze.
Is it just me, or does Jack look "grown up" in this picture?



Holding his "treasures," and getting covered in sap!

Sophie being assertive.



Ice Cream Cones

We gave the kids their first ice cream cones a few days ago. They weren't sure what to do with them at first, and tried to use their hands. After some visuals from Daddy (I think he wanted to eat the ice cream!) they figured it out! They ate down to the cone, nibbled on the cone, and then handed them over. They didn't get too messy, which was just fine with me!



18 Month Well Visit

I'm not sure how it happened, but my kids turned into eighteen-month-olds. I think I blinked and it happened. The Dr. was really happy with the twin's growth. Sophie is still a peanut at 18.13 lbs, and 30 1/2 in. She is following her curve though, so the Dr. is happy. It is a little unerving to see that your child is "below the curve," but then I watch what Sophie eats, and I see her little belly, and I know she is healthy! Jack was 23.7 lbs, and 32 1/2 in. He dropped a little in % for weight, but jumped up to the 50% for hieght. The kids speech is coming along, and they are saying tons of words. Some of them sound exactly like what they should, and some of them are out there. "Bah" means that someone got hurt...I have no idea where that came from. Sophie said it one day, and it stuck. They call each other "Daaa," because that's how Sophie says "Jack" without the "ck" sound. Now Jack says it for Sophie too. They do a lot of copying of each other, so some words are confusing, and are "Twinspeak." They are the only ones who know the symantics of that language! Other times they come up with words like "dollar," and surprise the pants off of me. We are just trying to surround them with language and hope for the best. We will revaluate our plan in six months if they aren't talking more. They just started taking one nap a day about a week ago. No one really asked me if I was ready for that ! HA! But they seem to be doing well, only a little bit of crankies. They are getting terribly close to the "Terrible Two's" and I am not looking forward to it. Jack is interested in everything around him, and that gets him into trouble. Sophie is downright stubborn. She doesn't like it to much if she doesn't get her own way. We have also been able to "do" a lot more lately. I can take the kids out and about, and I can do more activities with them. It is so much fun! I am looking into joining some kind of Mom's group, but I haven't found any yet in this area. They definitely need to interact with children other than themselves! Matt and I are still loving every minute of this adventure, and are hanging in there for the ride!

Shooting Hoops

How Matt likes to spend his afternoons!

Keeping Cool

We've had some really hot days this summer. To beat the heat, we put the watertable outside on the porch, and let the kids have at it. It was a great way to keep them cool!



Easter

We had a very busy Easter weekend! Grandma and Grandpa A came on Saturday, and brought the kids chairs and some clothes. We had dinner, and a nice time out in the backyard.

Easter Baskets for the kids. We didn't do anything last year(I know, I'm a bad mommy!) So this year, I made them little baskets with a book, a whirly-gig, tadoodles markers, new sparkly cups, and little windup chickens that jumped. The chicks were by far their favorite!


Ok, their favorite after the chocolate. Matt I hid chocolate in eggs after the kids went to bed on Saturday night. The kids ran around and found them. And tried to eat ALL of the candy. Why didn't that occur to me, that they would want to eat all of it? Matt I quickly ran around and took the chocolate out of the eggs before they could make themselves sick!



All dressed up for Easter Sunday. On our new couch I should add!


Sunday we spent with Grandma and Grandpa P. I know the pics are horrible, but someone(Laurie) messed with my camera settings, and I didn't get one good pic. But you can see the baskets my mom weaved for them if you look closely. Sophie knew exactly what to do with the little farm animal eggs in the basket, and Grandma had to quickly pick the chocolate out so that Sophie wouldn't eat it all! We spent the day with the whole Perini family, and had lots of fun, and ate lots of good food!

All in all, it was a great (yet exhausting) weekend!

Conference Calls

Jack's early morning conference call over breakfast. He doesn't look too happy with the person on the other line... And yes, we use calculators as phones around here!

Helping Mommy Unpack

The twins helped unpack...or rather they tried to get into all of the boxes.

Standing on our Heads




Helping Mommy Pack

The twins were such a huge help during packing! They even loaded up their toys into boxes!