Maggie & Zelda - 10 months old

The little girls are 10 months old and I don't even understand how time has gone by this fast. We are quickly approaching their first birthday and I'm just over here scrolling back through tiny baby pictures. They once both fit into the same single stroller and my zip hoodie. Now they are active and heavy!

Maggie is right at 20 pounds. She crawls fast! She would play peek-a-boo all day. She has the sweetest most endearing smile I have ever seen. She is usually pretty laid back and just happy to be around everyone. She is our best eater by far. If she is tired you will know it and she will quickly be asleep if you give her the opportunity. She wakes up first every single day and usually by 6am with a big smile on her face. Maggie Moo gives lots of kisses especially to Claire Grace. She can say Mama and Dada. She is a climber and a dancer. I have a feeling she will be walking real soon. She is still a bit timid about taking steps but she will climb the barstool over and over.

Zelda Ruth is ready to go! She is about the same weight as Maggie but solid as a rock. She has been walking since September first. She has the absolute cutest face when she wakes up. I can't quite explain it but I hope I never forget it. She is a heavy sleeper if you can ever get her to sleep. She usually screams and screams and then she's out. This girl follows me around the house all day long usually clinging to my pants legs trying to get me to pick her up. She is by far the most attached to Mama. She can say Mama, Dada, and we think Yaya. It also sounded like she was trying to say Nonnie over the weekend. She tries to wave bye bye and every once in a while it sounds like she is saying that also.

My favorite part of every day is seeing the way that these three girls are becoming friends. The babies adore Claire Grace and that just makes my heart so happy. Sometimes life is crazy and tiring but I feel beyond blessed that it is my real life.

2018

This has been quite a year. A year ago we had no idea what changes and blessings God had in our near future. We started out the year with a 17 month old, plans to sell our house and a partially remodeled farm house. We had big plans for 2018! In March, my boss resigned from his position as executive director. That same day I found out I was pregnant. Two weeks later I was made interim executive director. The last week of March we listed our house in town. On April 2nd, my doctor announced to us that we would be having TWO babies. For the next 4 months, I juggled all of the jobs at the office on my own. I struggled with nausea and vomiting with no end in sight. In May, I was offered the position of executive director and through it all I felt so humble and proud of myself. I still feel so honored that those five board members saw in me what they felt was right for that position. A few days before we sold our house. We moved the first week of June to my parents because our house was not ready. So much went on in a very short amount of time and we were finally in by the next week. After a year and a half of renovations it felt good to be in, even if everything wasn't finished.

My sickness drug on and on through summer. I think the only reason it was all tolerable was because of the medicine my doctor prescribed. We took a working family vacation to NACo conference in Nashville. While Judson was in sessions, we spent the days playing and lounging. While Claire was napping, I was working remotely returning emails, phone calls, and studying for my online course. Even though it wasn't a true vacation it was so fun to get away and spend some time together.

When we made it home from Nashville we celebrated Claire Grace's 2nd Birthday. I still can hardly believe that she is two years old. I'm probably a little biased but she truly blows me away with her vocabulary and intelligence. Life with her is just so much sweeter. She is always giving hugs or kisses and telling one of us "I love you." It makes my heart swell with pride that she is so extra sweet. I hope that trait stays forever.

We trekked on through the hot hot summer and then finally fall arrived along with the countdown to November 1st. In July, doctor visits started occurring once a week. The amazing thing about twins is you get to see them at every visit so they can check both heart beats. My poor body was still having a hard time taking care of all three of us and I was constantly on new medications. After months of nausea and uti infections, the thing that nearly broke me was gestational diabetes. For many weeks, I tried to manage it with diet and did very well but my fasting numbers in the morning couldn't get low enough so the insulin injections began. Of course that too made me feel bad...

We celebrated our third wedding anniversary with 27 days until babies! It has been the best adventure living life with this man of mine and I am so excited to see what our future holds. I know we have a lot to look forward to in life. I'm pretty sure October was the longest month. As a lover of October, I was glad for that. I think I enjoyed this October more than any before even though it was tiring and stressful. My dad had surgery on the 15th to be followed by my hospital stay on the 16th. Along with those two exciting events my mom has been battling Meniere's syndrome and we couldn't figure out how to make her feel better. A week later, my dad was starting to finally recover from his surgery and we found a chiropractor that specializes in helping people with Meniere's syndrome. My doctor put me on partial bedrest so I was working from home half of every day. My days were starting to include a nap. My body was too tired to make it all day without some sort of rest. I was counting down the days and trying to enjoy every second I had left with Claire as my only baby.

Claire Grace was a cat this year for halloween! A real cute cat! The next day she met her sisters and I think it is safe to say that she loves them. We weren't really surprised by this because she spent most of the year referring to her baby dolls by her sisters' names. Maggie Rose and Zelda Ruth have changed our lives. I was so scared when the doctor told us we were blessed with two babies. My mind just couldn't figure out how that was going to work. I think it really just gets easier every day. Some days are really hard but my heart is so happy and full that it makes all of the hard times worth it.

As I sit here on my 32nd birthday, holding Zelda while everyone sleeps, I can't believe what a beautiful year God blessed me with. It was personally my toughest year yet but I'm so grateful that I had this holiday season to reset and recharge for 2019. Claire Grace was extra festive and excited for the Christmas this year. We spent many hours discussing baby Jesus and the manger as well as Santa Claus. I have no idea what God has planned for 2019 but I think 2018 prepared me for it. This has most definitely been my favorite year with all of my favorite people. I look forward to a healthy and prosperous new year!

31 days

It is finally October 1st, 2018. What a year it has been so far. I look forward to the arrival of October every year and this year is no different. We officially have 31 days until we meet Baby A and Baby B. We are so excited for what lies ahead but have plans to make the most of our last month as three. 

Claire asks almost every day if it is time for the babies to "come out". She calls them by first and middle name. She has everything assigned to one baby or the other if something doesn't match exactly. She spends a great deal of time in their room and constantly asks to get in the cribs or look at tiny baby clothes. I'm so excited to watch her grow into her role as big sister. We think she is going to be very helpful and very loving to her little sisters. 

It is still hard to believe that there will be one new baby living at our house let alone TWO babies! People often tell us how crazy that seems and we completely agree. I think at first, we were so unsure of what this adventure would be like but now we are so sure that it is going to be fantastic! We don't know how it will work but we know we can do it. We know it will be hard, but we also know we have enough love for all of these sweet girls that God chose to bless us with.

We have been doing weekly checkups for almost two months now. I have been having some issues with my blood sugar and so the doctor has been monitoring me closely. Earlier today, we went in for a checkup and full sonogram scan. We were so happy to be updated on how the babies are growing now that we are 33 weeks. Baby A measured 32 weeks and 6 days and Baby B measured 33 weeks and 2 days. The tech's estimate is that each baby is 4 and a half pounds each. We were shocked to hear that I am already carrying around 9 pounds of baby! I have been guessing that each girl will be around 6 pounds each. Claire was exactly 6 pounds and 1 ounce so I think they will both be pretty close to that. 

Only 4 more weeks to go! 

Claire Grace: 2 years old

Our girl is two! She has been so sweet and laid back lately. The last few months have been hard for her and she has handled all of the transition so well. I think that she is glad that we finally live at the farm and just have one place to call home. She gets to go with Grandad every evening to feed all of the animals and she is actually a good helper! I think she looks forward to that all day because she asks almost every day when we get home if it is time to feed. I love that this girl gets to spend so much time with all of grandparents every day. I think that is such a special gift.

Recently, we went with Judson to a conference in Nashville. We stopped in Memphis on the way and stayed at the Peabody Hotel downtown. Claire is ruined for life as far as hotel living goes. She now thinks that all hotels have (or should have) ducks living in them. This was such a great stop even if we had only timed it to see the ducks march but it was also a fun one night stay for Claire! We moved from the Peabody to Opryland in Nashville. There is plenty to see and do there as well. We got to have leisurely mornings while Judson was in sessions. Claire has continued talking about staying in hotels ever since we arrived home. I like that she is such a good traveler and I hope she continues to have an adventurous state of mind as she grows.

This year Claire had a farm themed birthday because she loves ALL the animals! It was a small gathering with just family and cousins and she was so excited to finally celebrate her birthday!

Things I hope to remember about Claire at two are:
-Her love for all of God's creatures
-How she randomly tells me "I love you, momma"
-How she gives kisses on your arm every once in a while
-That she LOVES broccoli
-That she still sleeps all night long even in her own bed
-Her sense of humor
-Her excitement over the twins
-Her love/excitement for her shoes
-Her favorite color is pink
-She knows several songs
-She loves Lonesome Dove

To Claire: I pray that you are always strong, sweet, and smart. I hope you always have compassion for God's creations and follow in his word. I hope you are not afraid to see the good in the world and strive to make the most of every season. You are so very loved and I am so glad that God picked me to be your mom.

Goodbye Hickory Street

I'm writing this to remember...

To remember all of the memories that were made here. To remember the love that grew and grew. To remember where we first came home as a couple and then as three. This is where we really became a family and even though we are so excited about our new adventure, we are also a little sad to say goodbye to the house on Hickory Street.

J.D. has lived in this house for five years longer than the rest of us. He bought this house in his twenties and has so much pride for all of the quaint charm that it holds. He provided me with this house after we were married and 10 months later we brought Claire home. After spending eight weeks on maternity leave I truly fell in love with this little house. It is my home. I know that it will take some adjusting once we move for the new house to feel like home but it will be perfect because we will be there together.

I love all of the little things about this home and will very much miss the beautiful wood floors and divided rooms. I love the way that all of the ivy is grown up around the backyard and we have a sort of secret garden because you can't see much beyond the fence because of the plants. I will miss Claire's beautiful nursery and J.D.'s maroon study. These rooms were bare when I moved in and they have turned in to my favorite rooms in the whole house. We have grown in our design style and blended our possessions and treasures. I think we are both much more fond of the others design taste than we were at first. I have no before pictures but our home was very bare and manly in the beginning. A definite bachelors house. Now it has pictures everywhere and art hung. It is a cozy organized place that we will truly miss.

I'm so happy to share this home for the last time and have these photos to keep and show Claire where she lived first.

Surprise! It's twins!

Judson and I agree that we tried to plan what our life would be like with two children. We thought that would be the perfect number and we could easily manage a transition from one to two. God had other plans. We found out this week that we are going to have two babies this fall. I think we are still walking around with bugged out eyes and trying to wrap our head around this new idea of what our family is going to be.

I think there is a part of me that always felt or sensed there would be three kids in my life. We don't have all of this figured or out or planned any more. We have completely changed our state of mind to "we will figure it out" with a side a freak out and lots of questions pretty frequently. I think that once we have more time to get over the shock of it all we won't be quite so worried. Our main focus right now is that God had different plans for us and it is going to be a unique adventure. I feel very blessed that God picked me for this not so common gift of being a mother of twins. My heart feels overwhelmed in so many good ways.

I'm looking forward to knowing them and seeing Claire as a big sister.

Claire Grace: 18 months

Claire Grace is one spunky little girl. She amazes us every single day. We never know what she is going to come up with and truly can't believe she is already 18 months old. We are constantly telling her to "get down" because she is always climbing. This has turned into her telling cats, whether in real life or on tv, to "dit down" over and over. We think she's cute and she knows it! Speaking of cats, Claire loves them. All of them! She loves real cats, cats on her socks, her cat necklace, stuffed cats, and animated cats. She talks about her Yaya's cats and asks everyday to watch "cats" (Aristocats). Her favorite part of that movie is when its time for Thomas O'Malley Alley Cat song. She only sings the part about "alley cat" but it is cute and we sing it a lot. We also sing Jesus Loves Me, Up on the House Top, You are my Sunshine, Little Bunny Foo Foo, and the Itsy Bitsy Spider. She knows little parts here and there in each song but I think Judson and I would both agree its the cutest when she asks for the "Mitsubishi spider". We have a hard time not laughing every time she makes that request! We catch her singing all the time. Sometimes it is with music but she also sings all on her own.

                     

This girl knows so many words! She has started putting words together to get what she wants or tell her story. We are always impressed.  I think my favorite phrase is "bess you" when I sneeze. I got this on video once and I could easily watch it on repeat all day long. People often try to talk to her or get her to talk to them but she isn't really into it yet. She is real shy and I kind of love that about her. Her favorite way to stall bedtime is by asking for different songs or asking about every single person she knows. Our constant response is "they went night night" and she continues naming names just to be sure no one is still awake. It is fun to listen to her list off all of her grandparents, cousins, uncles, and all of the animals she knows. Luckily, once we get her to sleep she pretty much stays that way until morning. She still sleeps about half the time in her crib and half the time right between mom and dad. My most recent favorite sleeping habit is when she randomly shouts out words in her sleep like cat and Minnie.

                                                         

       

       

She loves Minnie Mouse. Give her all the Minnie Mouse things and she will match them with her cat things! Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has been something that she watched from pretty early on and she still enjoys it. She can count to ten! We are amazed by this again and again. Claire frequently asks to "callow!" Usually when she decides it is time to color its because she's seen someone else writing or coloring. Her request is loud and persistent. She loves animals. Her Grandad has a baby lamb that is being bottle fed and Claire thinks that she needs to be the one to feed that baby every afternoon. She says "milk bady" over and over and sometimes cries when we can't go because it is too cold. She loves the baby lamb and I love that she calls it "bady". She's honestly getting really good at holding the bottle and the little lamb likes to follow Claire around. They have a really sweet bond. She also loves her puppy Pearl so much and lovingly refers to her as Pearl Girl.

We can't get enough of all of the sweet random kisses and cute ways that Claire mispronounces words. I write them down so I can always remember this time in our life. Sometimes it is complete chaos around our house but I wouldn't have it any other way! My goal for 2018 is to spend as much time as possible with Claire, even if that means holding her during naps or playing in her room while I should be cleaning. She is the sweetest little girl and I am so glad that God gave her to us.