Friday, April 25, 2014

Jude & Sloane | Twin Talk Link-Up

April is Multiple Birth Awareness Month! Twin Talk is having a big link-up via blogs and Instagram (use hashtag #twintalkcelebratesmultiples) so I hope all twin parents participate!

Most of you "know" Jude & Sloane pretty well, but a brief introduction for those who are visiting my blog for the first time (welcome, by the way!!)...

Jude Sullivan & Sloane Elisabeth were born on October 30, 2012.  Jude was a hefty 7 lbs 5 oz and 20 inches while Sloane was a "petite" 6 lbs 10 oz and 20.25 inches.  They were born healthy, happy, and had a ton of dark hair.  We fell in love instantly.

You can read my twin birth story HERE.

I'm in Charleston right now (my babies are having a blast with Mimi & Papa) so these pictures are from a few days ago.  Michael and I met at an Earth Day party in 2005 so it's a pretty special day for us each year.  I dressed them up in their Earth Day best and snapped a few pics.













 



Now it's your turn to participate in the link-up!  If this was your first time to visit the blog, I hope you'll come back! 

Monday, April 21, 2014

Easter Weekend!

This past weekend was really, really great.  I can't count how many times I turned to Michael and said, "This weekend is so great."  :)  Our personal blog has become second to Twin Talk, which is sad for me but it is what it is.  I haven't done a picture post (other than their monthly write-ups) in a long time so I'm going to do that right now with pics from this glorious weekend.

On Saturday we got the kids dressed and drove to a nearby bluebonnet patch.  75 other families had the same idea so it was a little difficult to get pics of the kids without a car or random child in the background.  Neither Jude nor Sloane cared much for the bluebonnets so my picturesque dreams were soon replaced with this reality:


Sloane really wanted nothing to do with any of it but Jude was another story.  He ran all over the place, laughing the entire time.  It was frustrating as a photographer but wonderful as a parent. 

Here's the rest of the pictures from the bluebonnets!














After their nap we drove to Andy Brown park and walked around the pond.  We let the kids out of the wagon for a bit to run around.  Once again, Jude took off and Sloane stayed nearby (at one point she actually got back in the wagon and tried to buckle herself in--HA).  We played for a bit and then took them to the swings and slide.  They loved it!   If you follow me on Instagram you've noticed the straw fedora (which is on its last leg) is Sloane's BFF.  Some grow attached to dolls or stuffed animals; this girl prefers a hat.
 

 

 

 



Sunday morning we woke up for our church's Easter Sunday service.  It was such a great message and really reinforced what Easter is all about.  Michael and I were both raised in homes where the Easter bunny was not a big deal and we've decided to continue that tradition.  Not to mention every Easter bunny we've seen absolutely terrifies us.






After church we had a nice (albeit crazy) Easter brunch with Michael's parents and then the kids went down for a nap.  They woke up to an egg hunt around our living room and absolutely loved it.  I really thought this year would be a wash but they seemed to grasp the concept and had a good time.  







Face stuffed with bunny grahams will not deter her from hunting more eggs.

The sweet bunnies were a gift from Mimi & Papa!


We gave them bubbles and sidewalk chalk this year so we took them outside and played with the bubbles.  You would've thought they won the toddler lottery--they couldn't stop laughing and chasing the bubbles.  It was definitely a moment I will never forget.





 Did I mention it was a great weekend?  :)

Monday, April 7, 2014

It Gets Easier

When Jude & Sloane were newborns, I was constantly stopped by fellow twin moms who offered words of encouragement and wisdom.  But, to me, they also offered one huge lie:  It gets easier.

I remember smiling politely and internally cheering.  Easier than this?  WOW!  That's not to say I thought the newborn stage was easy, but at that time my day consisted of watching, feeding, and loving on two babies who stayed in the same place and cried for very predictable, correctable reasons.

I look back on those days with nostalgia and a bit of jealousy.  In my personal experience, those days were a breeze compared to what we are going through now.  It does not get easier.  It gets harder.

I don't want to scare you.  Please read until the end and you'll understand why I say absolutely everything gets harder.

Our once immobile babies are now running, jumping, and flying across the room.  Always in different directions.  Always.

They don't just cry because they're hungry or wet.  They cry because they want you to put one sock on their foot.  Or because you only let them watch The Hot Dog Song three times in a row.  Or because you want to change their dirty diaper (how dare you).

They want to help.  "Help."  This includes emptying 150 megablocks onto the floor... directly after you finished picking them all up.

They don't want to leave your side... until you're ready to go somewhere and then it's impossible to get them near your side.

They play together well, but sometimes playing is "pretend biting" the other's finger, which turns into a real bite, which turns into crocodile tears.

They just want to dance.  On the table.  On the chair with wheels.  On the unstable pouf.  Never on the safe, carpeted floor.

They don't want to eat anything you just cooked or the expensive organic fruit you nicely cut up for them.  Refried beans in a can?  Delicious.

But guess what?  It gets harder for other reasons as well...

I miss them desperately when they're asleep.  I spend the evening looking at pictures I took of Jude & Sloane that morning.  Being away from them for any length of time is tough.

I get frustrated for them when they can't do something they so badly want to do.

I want to scream to the rooftops how proud I am of their sweetness, their intelligence, and their beauty.  But I keep it to myself and graciously thank others who tell me these things. Humility is hard but so important.

I realize they are watching me all of the time.  I must be mindful of what my little ones see and hear.

I have to understand that when they prefer to hug their grandparents over me, it is a gift that a lot of kids will never experience.

When I watch my son play alone in a sea of kids, my heart cries out in pain.

When I watch my daughter find my son and play with him so he's no longer alone, my heart cries out in love.

I will never tell a new mom it gets easier.  It simply doesn't.  It gets harder.  For one million different reasons it gets harder.  And thank God for that because I know it means my connection to them is getting stronger. 

So to new moms reading this post: It doesn't get easier... but it keeps getting better.  

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