25 Random Things

Ok, so everyone is doing 25 Random Things about themselves on facebook. I couldn't miss out on the fun so here is my note. 

25 Random Things

Potty Humor

I knew it was only a matter of time....

I was doing the dishes this morning and realized that the boys had been awfully quiet. I decided to investigate and discovered Benjamin in the bathroom with the toilet paper all unrolled. Thankfully it was the end of the roll. He was standing in the bathroom between the toilet and the wall holding a remote control. Thank goodness the toilet lid was down! And he had thrown the toilet brush out into the hall. LOL! Oh, I love my kiddos! :) I don't know what hand Micah had in this escapade. He was sitting happily in the living room. I guess I'll never know...until next time! 

That darn tooth!

Benjamin had a terrible day yesterday. Aaron brought him to our bed for me to nurse. He nursed for FOREVER! I am down to two nursings a day and usually they only nurse for about 5 minutes or so. But Benji probably nursed for 15 minutes. And he felt really warm. We took his temperature at it was 102.8! Poor  boy! Aaron loves to snuggle with the boys when they don't feel well so Benji had lots of  Daddy snuggles yesterday. His nose and eyes were poring all day long. I was planning on going to our weekly play group at 10:30 that morning but that idea was kicked to the curb because I was sure that Benji was coming down with some terrible sickness. He didn't even sleep very well during naps and would wake up wailing. We didn't give him any tylenol or ibuprofen because I wanted to let the fever "fight" whatever germs were "attacking" his body. Aaron was wonderful enough to stay home with both boys while I went out to lunch with Candace. We had planned the lunch date earlier in the week and had a great time at Applebee's. YUM!

By that evening the fever reduced and Benji seemed to be feeling a little better. On a whim, I felt inside his mouth and lo and behold, his second tooth had popped through his gum. Poor baby! I let him suffer all day with the fever and pain and it was all because of a tooth! Teething is hard work--for baby and for mom and dad. I hope Micah's come in without incident. He has yet to cut is first tooth. 

Good Weekend

Aaron and I have this weird radar between the two of us--food/restaurant cravings! One of us will say (usually too late) "I feel like Texas Road House/Chinese/Subway etc" and the other one will say "Me too! Why didn't you say something?"

Well, after sleeping in on Saturday morning (the boys were gracious and didn't make a peep until 9am! Amazing!) I got up and ate a bowl of cereal. I then got the boys up and nursed them. They started to play and I told Aaron, "Today would be a good day to go to IHOP. Too bad I just ate breakfast." And of course he said, "I was just thinking about going to IHOP! Do you want to go?" So we hurried and got the boys ready and I threw my hair into a pony tail and off we went. We had a WONDERFUL time! The boys sat in the high chairs and flirted with the waitresses as they came in and out of the kitchen. And they put away some FOOD! They ate a stack of 3 pancakes and scrambled eggs between the two of them, plus cherrios while we were waiting for the food. Micah couldn't get bites in fast enough. He is a very fierce eater! That boy is serious about his food! I got the Country omlette- yum! And Aaron had eggs, bacon, pancakes, etc. Are you hungry yet? We were there for an hour and the boys did great. 

The boys took a good nap when we got home and Aaron and I enjoyed a fire in our fireplace all day long. Mmmmmm. It was 3 degrees when we went to IHOP. Brrrrr!!!!!

Sunday morning I officially taught my first lesson as the Senior High Sunday School teacher. It went really well. I hope to build even better relationships with the kids as the weeks go by. 

After church we had a couple and their baby over for lunch. Jay, Tracey and Adalie are the only other couple in our church that our our age and have a child the boys' age. Micah, Benji and Adalie are good friends. She gets so excited whenever they come into the nursery and they all play together really well. For lunch today, I made Italian potato, sausage and kale soup and homemade key lime pie (key limes compliments of Aaron's dad who brought them up from Florida!) Everything turned out deliciously! We had a great visit with them even though Adalie didn't get to play with her "boyfriends" during lunch--they always conk out after church. 

Little Monkey (and other news!)

Micah and Benjamin have been getting really talkative lately. The latest super cute thing that Micah has been doing is making animal sounds. We have this little stuffed monkey that he pulled off his mobile. I say "What does the monkey say?" and then I say "Oooo, ahh, ahh ahh!" (oh the things you do for your kids). Micah then squeals over and over again while waving the monkey over his head. He also points to a monkey in one of his books and squeals. TOO CUTE!

Micah also has been saying "ni-night" on a regular basis. 

Benji's favorite words are "ball" and "book" (or "ba!" and "Bu!") and of course, "Da-da!"

Both the boys learned the sign for "please" on Wednesday and we try to have them use it when they want snacks, a drink, etc. 

Weight update: As of Wednesday, Micah weighs 17 lbs 5 oz and Benjamin weighs 15 lbs 6 oz. SKINNY boys! 

LONG week

Well, I survived my Bibliography and Research intensive. It was actually a really good class and I SO enjoyed being back with my fellow English majors, as weird as we might be. We were able to have some great discussions about literature, language, the duty of a Christian critic, and the qualities of "good" writing.

The class was slightly overwhelming- so much information in one week. We had about 4 hours of lecture in the morning and then did research/ group meetings in the afternoons. I was gone every day from about 8am-4pm. My mom said the boys were angels for her! I am so glad. But as soon as I walked in the door it was "whine, whine," cling, cling, "mama, mama." Which lets me know that I was missed but hard at the end of a long day. It really wasn't as hard as I thought to be away from them. This was the longest time that I had ever been away since they were born. 

It was nice to feel like an intellectual woman for a change instead of just a mommy. Motherhood is rewarding, but it is nice to have a real conversation that doesn't include the words "juice," "all done?" "stinky," or "sit!"

My master's degree is going to be a lot of fun and a LOT of work. I hope I can balance it all without having an emotional breakdown or be stressed out all the time. Say a prayer for me as I start my regular classes this coming week! I am taking TR classes. Tuesdays will be 5:10p-6:25p and 6:30p-9:30p (ug!) and Thursdays will be 5:10p-6:25p. I am taking Classic Greek Literature and Non-Fiction Writing. Should be lots of fun! 

Back in my Element

I am back in school! I have officially started my M.A. in English yesterday. I am taking a research and bibliography intensive this week from 8am-4:30pm. It is so nice to be with my fellow English majors again. I have really enjoyed the discussion and literature. I really feel like I am back in my element. I know this is the right program for me. :) The only down side is that I am really tired at the end of the day and now have lots of reading and homework.

The other downside is that I am away from the boys. This is the longest I have ever been away from them. My mom is here from KS taking care of them during the day. It is nice to have her here. She has even been doing things like the laundry and changing sheets. She says that the boys have been great. In her words, "These have been some of the most relaxing days I've had in a long time." YEA! I'm glad the boys have been angels. Only three days left! This is a really busy week for us. We have a busy weekend at church this weekend too. Whew! My regular classes start next Tuesday. 

New Years Resolutions

I was really into resolutions when I was younger, making lists in journals or lavender flowered notebooks of how I was going to improve myself for the year. For the last two years, I have not written any resolutions. Two years ago, my only goal was to graduate from college. DONE. Last year, it was to survive. DONE. I thought I would be  a little more adventurous this year. So here are some of my goals, boring as they may be:

1. Keep up with house work. When you have kids, it is almost impossible to keep the house clean. I am determined (I think...) to tackle the dirt and Cheerio crumbs head on. I even made a daily cleaning schedule of each task I want to do each day. We'll see how that goes...

2. Keep my car clean. One of my other downfalls. We (ok, Aaron) cleaned out the car before we went to WV for Christmas and it is currently free of any Sonic cups, used Kleenexes and all other crap that seems to have an attraction for my car. I really like having my car clutter free so...we will also see how this resolution goes. 

3. Work on my book consistently. I am currently writing a novel and have 40 pages. Doesn't seem like a whole lot but...hey, it is a labor of love. I thought about making goals for myself like, write for an hour a day, or 10 pages a week but I don't want to disappoint myself. So, "consistently" is the best I can do. I am probably more dedicated to this goal than keeping my car or bathroom tub spotless though....

4. Maintain at least a 3.5 GPA. I want to do well in grad school. There is no room for debate in this resolution. 

5. Love myself and love my life! As the keeper of my own happiness, only I can live my life to the fullest. Bring it on, 2009! Let's rock and roll! 

A Good Year

In these few moments where I am not being attacked by shrieking, climbing, slobbering children, I thought I would take time to reflect on the last 12 months. We have had an eventful year. Last year at this time, the boys were barely 3 months old and I was still trying to get the hand of breast feeding. I think in January alone I watched 3 seasons of LOST while I breast fed the boys. It was just me, Micah, Benji, my nursing pillow and that mysterious island. I can't wait for the new season to start in, oh, 20 or so days. (I'm not counting down or anything) :)

In April, we signed the papers to own our first home. And for the next month I never saw Aaron as he was working 10 hour days and then going over to "the house" to work. One word: stressful. One the weekend of our 2nd anniversary (I can't believe we have only been married 2 years....) we moved in. Two words: extremely stressful. Especially since the boys were 7 months old and had their first cold. Thankfully, we are all moved in now (even though the house isn't done yet. Does it EVER end??) and we love our new home. 

At the end of the summer, our church asked Aaron if he would step into the youth minister position. We felt very strongly that this was the place for us to serve and have (usually) enjoyed the learning process and have loved building relationships with the youth and their families. We joined the church as well--we thought it would be a good thing if the interim youth pastor and his family were actual members. 

October 9th, 2008 brought the boys 1st birthday! I can't believe the year went so fast. I felt very accomplished to have made it one year as a twin mom as well as to have breast fed for one year (and still going strong. I was hoping I would make it 6 months!). I love each new thing they learn. Their latest accomplishment is climbing up on couches/chairs and pulling everything off the side table.  Teething doesn't help either though as their lungs have been getting quite a bit of exercise as well. I am really enjoying nap time these days. 

I am really looking forward to what this new year will bring. Despite some stressful days in 2008, we have truly been blessed.

I am starting my MA in English in 4 days: nervous but excited for new experiences and learning. Who knows what else life will bring? Stay tuned for accounts of our adventures in 2009! 

NOTE: my brief period of respite lasted all of 5 minutes. I was attacked by a hollering Benjamin for 10 minutes who is tired and growing a tooth. He and his brother are now in bed.