Lots of Firsts

It feels like we have been going non-stop these days! We've been having so much fun, and the boys have been experiencing lots of firsts. On Sunday morning, Michael, myself, and Ben and Drew ALL made it to Bible class together, and only 5 minutes late!!! Needless to say, being anywhere by 8:45 a.m. with these two is quite an accomplishment. So, Ben and Drew got to go to Bible class before going into church. While we were trying to juggle babies, our bibles, and all of the toys needed to keep everyone quiet, Ben decided to chew on my finger. Which is when i discovered that he has a tooth!!!!! I can't believe that my baby is already big enough to be getting his first tooth. But there it was. I've tried my best to take pictures of it, but he doesn't seem to think that that is a very good idea. Don't worry, though...I'm persistent when it comes to a good photo-op! It took every ounce of restraint I had not to jump up and down, and tell everyone.
We left church and the boys and I headed to Madison to a baby shower for one of my dearest friends, Maggie, who is having Baby Savannah sometime in May. I would have taken pictures, but in all the hubbub of getting ready for church so early, we forgot the camera. So there are no pictures of Maggie's sweet belly, or Ben and Drew flirting with all the pretty girls. What hams!! They had a great time smiling and playing with everyone, and I think Ben made a few new girlfriends. It was so great to see some of my old college friends, and I love that they all got to see my precious babies. I think everyone enjoyed them because they are just so good-natured.
Everyone passed them around, and though Drew didn't feel great because of the teeth that are trying to come in, he was still a good sport. Another exciting first is that Ben can now roll over from his back to his tummy. Both Drew and Ben can roll from their tummies to their backs, but now they are working on rolling over the other way too! Drew, who isn't as concerned as Ben is with rolling to his tummy, pulls his knees underneath him, and tries to scoot himself to the toy he wants. I think that when he gets mobile, I'll have my hands really full.
Yesterday Britt and I took the boys on a walk in the park to enjoy the beautiful weather, and it just so happens that we ran into two of my best mommy friends from our small group at church. So we got to go walking with Darci and Brax and Sallie and Eli! We had a great time, and took some really good pictures of all the buddies playing. This was Drew and Ben's first time to play in the grass, and as you can see, they studied it carefully. Eli is still to little to do that, but he's getting so big so quickly, that it won't be long.

This morning, I laid the boys on the couch upstairs while I went to get the bottles for the first feeding, and when I walked back upstairs, this is what I saw! Bottoms up!!! I just couldn't resist grabbing the camera, and getting this one. Moments like this remind me that I am exactly where I am supposed to be: with my sweet baby boys. I am so blessed to be able to do this every day.

One More Day

Well, as most of you know, Michael has been away on business again. This has been a pretty long trip, so the boys and I headed down to my parent's house so that I could wouldn't have to do all the work that two babies require all by myself. Even though I had never traveled this far with the boys by myself, what a wonderful trip it has been!!! My Nana and Papa drove 6 hours from Georgia to spend some time with us (don't tell them that they are in their late 80's, since they sure don't act like it!). My mom took off work and has spoiled us rotten. Ben and Drew are going to have a hard time getting back to our reality, and so am I! Mimi and Pop have gotten up in the middle of each night with the boys so I could sleep, they do the feedings in the morning so I can sleep late, and to top it all off, they make me a big breakfast every morning!!! What selfless servants! Honestly, it's like I'm on vacation. So when we woke up this morning, and the weather was really bad in both Nashville and Montgomery, they talked us into staying for one more night...not that it took a whole lot of arm twisting. So, we'll be back home tomorrow.

On another note, the boys are just developing so much, so quickly. They are reaching out for toys, grabbing on to them, and putting them directly into thier mouths. Ben can almost roll over from his back to his tummy, and he gets an A+ for the effort since he wants to do it so badly. But he always gets stuck when he gets to his side. I'm sure he'll do it any day now, and it will remind me that they are growing up so fast. I'm pretty sure that Drew is getting ready to pop a tooth through his gums, since he is gnawing on everything in sight, and drooling the equivalent of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. It's so hard to believe that they will be 5 months old tomorrow!!! It has just gone too quickly. Everyone said it would, and I didn't know how right they were.

P.S. on another note entirely, I added a web-counter to our page. I know that we've had this thing for about 6 or 7 months now, but what can I say?...I'm just not that smart when it comes to computers. Thanks for checking in. I'll post pictures when we get all settled in from our travels.

We Are So Blessed

Last night we got to be a part of a very special Otter Creek tradition: the Baby Blessing! What a wonderful night it was!!! We, along with all of the other families that have had babies in the last year stood in front of our church family, and vowed to the Lord and to each other that we would raise Ben and Drew in the church, raise them in a home that honored Jesus and His sacrifice every day, and pray for them as long as we are alive to do so. It was such a special night, and I couldn't help but be overwhelmed at the responsibility that God has given to me. We got to share the whole experience with our LifeGroup, who has walked with us every step of this journey!!! We are so thankful to you all for the roles you play in our lives, and in the lives of Ben and Drew. As you can see from the picture, we all have babies about the same age...there again, God's sovereign hand. The only couples we were missing were the two couples that are expecting a baby any day now. Layton's and Essner's, we missed yall. But we'll be there with you to share in your Baby Blessing for Baby Xander and Baby Jay next year.

On a lighter note, I had to take a picture of how soaked Drew's little outfit got from all the spitting up he did. I mean, the front of it was just drenched. Ick! So much for our attempts at looking nice for the service.


And in case you are wondering what this picture of Ben is, it is a picture of his thumb poking out of the little mittens that are on his sleep shirt. For those of you who don't know it, we have a thumb sucker on our hands, and we have been trying for weeks now to keep his thumb out of his mouth, to no avail. So when I went into the nursery this morning, Ben had somehow wiggled his thumb out, and was happily sucking on it. When I leaned over the crib and he saw me, he left it in his mouth, smiled really big at me and started laughing really loud. I cracked up, and grabbed the camera. It's so hard to be consistent when they're so darn cute!!!

As Promised

This is Drew the first time we gave him rice cereal. We tried our very best to make it fun, and be excited about it all. But none of that mattered. As soon as we put it in his mouth he looked at me, looked at Michael, looked confused, then spit it all out. The look on his face said "Mommy why did you do that to me?!" Needless to say, he hated it.


And this is a picture of Ben thinking, the exact same thing his brother thought of the rice cereal. The only difference being that he was equally confused as to why we were smiling and taking pictures of the whole thing. At least it was a fun time for the grown-ups! The good news now is that we have a less messy way to go about it now. Heather Miller, a friend of mine from church who has a little more mommy experience than I do, told me to try a medicine syringe to get the food into their tummies. Lo and behold, it worked! So until they reach the point where they can get their mouths to use the spoon, we have an alternative.


I have to admit that I am the queen of taking pictures for no apparent reason. My only reason for taking these was that they are just getting so big! Look at them sitting up like such big boys on the couch. I was so impressed. I think that we're going to have to start working on smiling for the camera. 9000 pictures of blank stares might be a little overkill, dontcha think?

Thank you for praying for our boys while they were sick!!! Everyone is now much much better. The whole drama culminated in me taking Drew to the ER at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, while Michael stayed home from work with Ben. I know that this may seem like an over-reaction on our part, but at 4:30 on Monday morning, after another sleepless night due to him crying and not keeping anything down, we decided that he had been without fluids, without sleep, and not any better for too long. So, rather than wait till our Dr's office could see us, I took him on. And its a good thing I did. They got him an IV of fluids and he immediately began to look and feel better. Michael had several work emergencies come up, and our good friends Darci and her little boy Brax came over to take care of Ben for us! They were our heroes!!! We thank God every single night for our small group, and the friends that we have in it!!! They have each been there for us so many times, and this was no exception. So, after all that drama, we are worn out, and are trying to take it easy.

I Hate Bugs

Whether they be the six-legged kind or the tummy kind, I hate bugs. And since there has been a tummy bug flying all over church for the last few weeks, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it has now come to visit our house.

Last night at about 3:00 a.m. Drew woke up and was really upset. I put him on the couch with me, in the hopes that that would help all four of us get a little sleep for the rest of the night. No such luck. When he blew out a diaper onto me and the blankets we were on, I took his temperature, only to find that it was over 102. So, Michael and I gave him a bath, some infant Tylenol (thank heavens for that stuff!), and I took him back to the couch. Michael took Ben to bed with him. Since he had none of the symptoms that Drew had, we thought he might make it through without catching it. We were wrong.

So today the three of us spent all day in our pj's, just snuggling, and trying to keep Pedialyte down. It breaks my heart to see my sweet little babies feel so rotten. All they want to do is lay on my chest, and I am more than happy to oblige.....that's something I can't get enough of. Days like today remind me of the things that are really important. The laundry that has been cleaned but not put away for a week, the messy kitchen, and all that other stuff just finds itself low on the priority list when my babies just need their mommy. Please please keep them in your prayers as their little bodies try to shake this thing.

Love to you all!

Life in the Fast Lane (times two)!

I'm honestly always amazed at the number of people who tell me "you need to update your blog page." And I know that it's true: I do need to do it more often. But with these two little bugers, who has the time to even check email? At any rate, though I do feel bad that I don't keep up with this a little bit better, it does make my day to know that there are so many of you out there who actually take time (and for mommies, that is a very sacred commodity) to check in on us. I know that the real reason you put up with all of my ramblings is to see pictures of the boys. :) So, here you go!
This is a picture of Drew laughing so hard at his mommy...I never knew I was funny until I had them! And this is a picture of Ben in the middle of rolling over!!! He looks a little confused because I think it still surprises them a little when they do it. But they flop right over onto their backs as soon as you lay them on their tummies. It's so neat to watch them discover something as simple as rolling over. But everything is brand new to them, and to watch them put it all together is just so fun.

In other news, we went for our 4 month visit to Dr. Leeper's office (shots are NOT fun!) and he said the boys aren't gaining enough weight. So, we have to start rice cereal, both in the bottles and out of a spoon. I've been trying now for about 20 precious minutes to upload pictures of their faces as they tell me how they feel about it because it's priceless. But blogger is not wanting to cooperate. So you'll have to wait till next time to see. It's hilarious, and very messy. They HATE the spoons. But we are giving it our best efforts twice a day, Heaven help us!

They are getting so big. I think they do something that completely amazes me everyday, and I have never loved doing something so much. I am the luckiest girl in the world to have my two little guys and my one big guy. God is so good!