Its One of Those Days...

Do you ever have those days when you feel like everything is just falling apart? I do, and I am having one today. Are you supposed to blog (or journal) about them, or just pretend that day-to-day life as a mother/parent is always easy and perfect? I have asked my mom about days like I am having, and she said that she has really just forgotten them over the years. That is probably the right approach to take- forget about the hard days and just remember the happy, positive aspects of your children growing up...

Sometimes I feel like letting it all out. I have hard days. I don't have them everyday, but some days I have a headache, the kids whine a lot, they aren't nice to each other, and the bathroom (and the boys) are covered in conditioner. Some days Aaron is on a conference call (and still at the office at 7:15 pm) and all my friends are gathering for crepes at another friend's house. And I am still here till he gets home. Yeah, it has been rough.

Really, I don't want to dwell on days like today. I know that tomorrow is a new day. I know that my headache will go away. I know that Aaron will come home and I can at least escape to my nearest favorite retail store to just walk around in the quiet. I know that the kids will be asleep later tonight and when I go in to check on them, I will want to lay down and snuggle their sweet little faces.

But until then, I must go stop the chasing down and stealing of yet another toy and quiet the kid who isn't dealing well with this day, either.

Atlanta Temple Open House and Rededication

Our Temple closed in July of 2009 for remodeling and finally reopened in May of this year! Lucky for us, that included a two week open house followed by the rededication performed by President Thomas S. Monson. Since there was an open house, we were able to take the kids to the temple. Once the temples are dedicated, only worthy, adult members of our church are allowed to enter. However, our church allows the public to enter and tour the temples before they are dedicated. It is so beautiful inside and there is such a calm and peace that is present in the temple. The kids loved being inside, and Emma said her favorite part was the chandelier in the Celestial Room.

Jonathan and Emma outside the temple

Since I don't know when we will have another opportunity to tour the temple with the kids, I took Emma through a second time so she and I could talk about the temple and really focus on it. I knew that she would remember going, so I wanted to make sure she had a great experience.

Emma and me- Girls Night Out at the Atlanta Temple

Emma and me- Girl's Night Out at the Temple Open House! My sweet Emma girl- outside the temple

My Boys

Jonathan and William- April 2011

I meant to include this picture in the boys' birthday post, but I forgot to add it. And its so cute, that I think it deserves a post all on its own.

I love watching my boys. They will hardly do anything without the other, and they usually don't go too far away from one another. They are best friends! Yesterday, Jonathan couldn't find his Easter basket and was pretty upset. I stood back and watched as William assessed the situation, picked up his own basket, and gave it to Jonathan. I have also seen Jonathan get William's blanket, milk and toys on numerous occasions. Just today, William had fallen asleep on the couch while I was doing some laundry. I walked through the living room a few minutes later, and Jonathan had covered William up with a blanket while he slept.

I hope that they will always be close, and always be best friends. There was a couple that lived in our ward who had twin sons that are about 23. I love looking at pictures (thank you, Facebook!) of these guys together- at each others' wedding receptions, hanging out with family, etc.- and trying to imagine my own boys in those situations. It makes me happy to see that the bond that twins have lasts into adulthood and that they can always be close.

I sure love my boys and I am so glad that they love each other so much!

Spring Break 2011 Destin, Florida

For Emma's Spring Break, we took a trip to one of our favorite near-by (meaning 6 hours away) cities- Destin, Florida! We love the beaches there- the sand is great, the beaches are clean, and things are pretty family friendly.

The boys were pretty hesitant to get near the water at first. I ran up to the water with them, and then screamed and ran away as the waves came onto the sand (like it was chasing me). The boys thought that was pretty funny, tried it for themselves, and begged to be at the beach almost every second after that. They DID NOT like sand in their flip flops. Apparently that is just too much. These jelly fish were all over the beach. I am pretty sure they were dead, as they didn't have any tentacles, and we pretty much played with them without getting stung. I thought this one was neat with the purple spots on it. I don't like putting non-flattering pictures of myself on this blog, but here ya go. I was there. This area of Florida is known as the "Emerald Coast," and according to Wikipedia, is known for "its white sand and emerald green waters." I don't always trust everything I read on Wikipeida, but judging from the picture below, I think that is probably credible information. (Some other interesting info from Wikipedia, it says "The sand on Destin's beaches is some of the whitest in the world. The sand comes from the Appalachain Mountains, and is made of finely ground quartz crystal giving the appearance of sugar.) Emma took advantage of that sugary-quartz sand to practice her writing skills:

This was another jelly that we found on the beach. It was so different from all the others that we had seen, and it still had its tentacles. I didn't take any chances and scooped it up with some sand and set it on my flip flop to take its picture. I thought it was a neat little jelly!

A big storm blew through the second night we were there, and it cooled things down quite a bit. There was a strong wind blowing as well, so we took the kids to a "family fun center." The kids wanted to ride this airplane so bad, so we let them. And the boys cried (and screamed) the ENTIRE time. Emma was being such a good big sister and tried to calm them down, but they just weren't happy. After torturing them with an airplane ride, I took them on a train ride, and I went with them this time. They were still so upset that this is the face I got when I tried to get them to smile: I think that the favorite part of the trip was playing on Dad's surf board. The kids all tried it out and LOVED it! (Which is good. That is what we are hoping for!) They thought they were pretty cool once they stood up! (On a side note, I am glad they liked it so much, since we are in the process of decorating their room in a surfing theme!) Here is my surfer girl, Emma. I am glad that she got out in the water- especially after I told her about Bethany Hamilton (the girl who surfed and got attacked by a shark, losing her arm) and seeing previews to the movie coming out about her.... Is this a happy girl, or what?! We also kept seeing these pools and inflatable bubbles in the parking lots of the beach shops. Emma wanted to try it so bad, but there was always a long wait. So, on the day we were leaving, we found one, waited till it opened, and Emma was the first one in!

She had to get in the uninflated bubble, and they blew air into it with a leaf blower. Once it was fully inflated, she had to walk up the little ramp to get into the pool. (She kept calling it her hamster ball!) Once she got in the water, she flipped, rolled, and acted like, well, a hamster in a ball! She had a lot of fun in there! We kept trying to get her to stand up, but she was never able to for more than a few minutes at a time. It was so nice to have a little family getaway, especially since Aaron had such a busy "busy season," which required much travel and time away from home. The boys keep asking to go to the beach, and I hope we can go again soon!

Three Year Olds!

Yesterday my "baby" boys turned 3. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by!

A few days before their birthday, I looked at my pictures from the boys' birth on my computer. It takes me back a little to see them, tiny little babies, with feeding tubes and heart monitors, oxygen monitors and itty-bitty hospital bracelets around their ankles. It is sometimes hard to look at the pictures- to think about all the "what-ifs" that come with multiples pregnancies and births, but I see them now and know that for us, all is well. I am so thankful for my fun-loving, mostly happy, mischievous, snuggly, cuddly little boys. Here are some then and now pictures to take you back down memory lane with me!

This is William in the NICU. He was the oldest, but the smaller of the boys. He had trouble regulating his body temperature, and stayed on oxygen and IV fluids longer. He also had to tube feed longer. I remember looking at him and thinking that he would be the more careful and cautious of the two- and I could picture him always following Jonathan around saying, "No, Jonathan, don't do that." Jonathan was born two minutes after William, and was off his oxygen and fluids first. He was a more vigorous eater, and the larger of the boys. He is still bigger in size. He still loves to eat. (He ate 3 fajitas at dinner the other night- even more than me!) He is actually the more cautious of the boys. He is always following William around and telling him, "No!" William was so tiny that his bottle looked huge next to him. (He was 4 pounds 10 ounces at birth, and had probably lost some weight at the point this picture was taken.) Although he was the bigger baby, Jonathan weighed 5 pounds 5 ounces at birth, and was under 5 pounds when we brought them home from the hospital. Look at his tiny head in Aaron's hand. The boys were only in the most critical part of the NICU for 4 days before being moved to the upper floor, which is the less critical area of the NICU. Here they were able to share an "open crib" and they worked on their eating so they could come home. (This is William.) They kept their feeding tubes in so that if they got too tired from eating from a bottle, they could still be fed through the tube. They had to be able to feed from 8 bottles each day in order to come home. (This is Jonathan.) Here they are together, in their shared crib, still in the hospital. At this point, William (on the left) still had his feeding tube, but Jonathan had gone to all bottles! What a difference a few years makes! Here is a picture that my friend, Erin Summerill, took of the boys during our Christmas trip to Utah in 2010. They are such good friends (most of the time) and are really sweet to each other, again, most of the time! (Jonathan is on the left and William is on the right in this one.) I just couldn't resist adding this picture! It was too cute to leave out!I took this picture of the boys earlier this month. They were sitting in the recliner together, watching a show. They were just being too sweet! (Jonathan on the left, William on the right.)

Here are the boys celebrating their 3rd birthday. We were singing "Happy Birthday" to them, and Emma was so kind to help with getting their cupcakes and candles to them. The boys are trying to show everyone that they are three with their fingers! We will keep working on that one. (William is on the left, Jonathan on the right.) William has a blue icing goatee! Jonathan was just really happy- happy that it was his birthday, happy to get cupcakes again (they went to a friend's birthday party earlier in the day), and happy to be wearing his "monkey on a motorcycle" t-shirt! Here is everyone (minus me, of course) sporting cupcake faces! Baths were definitely next on the agenda for the evening! Here are some things about the boys at this age that I want to remember: William: likes to gather up all the matchbox cars at the end of each day, pile them in the middle of the bed and sleep with them. William is the mischief maker. He loves to be silly and play jokes. If he wakes up in the middle of the night (and even some mornings), when I come into his room, he will pat the spot next to him on the bed and say, "Mommy lay down." I usually can't resist!

Jonathan: my little snuggler. Jonathan is the lover- he loves to give hugs and kisses. He likes to read stories with anyone that will read to him. He is my big eater! He always finishes his dinner and usually asks for seconds!

I am so thankful for the unexpected blessing of twin boys. They are so much fun and I can't imagine life without the two of them- together.