Amazing

I haven't mentioned these things yet... but was meaning to.

I was excused from Jury Duty. I thank God for that. It was a stressful situation hanging over our heads all summer.
(It was a 6 week federal murder case being held in Albuquerque which is over 6 hours from here. There's no way I could be away from my family that long.)


Today, Alyna learned how to put the circle in the shapes lid all by herself. She was only slightly frustrated that the triangle wouldn't also fit in the hole. I finally helped her put the triangle in the right place, but it was a lot tougher so she went back to doing the circles over and over.

Alyna also points at things very well with her first finger. We were looking through the Sky Mall magazine on the flight, and I said, "Where's the dog?" She looked around with her pointer finger out, and pointed to a golden retriever at the top of the page. My jaw dropped, and Barry looked over and said, "No way." So I said, "Where's another dog?" She looked over the page and after about 30 seconds pointed straight at another small dog that looked completely different. Today she pointed at the ball in a book and said, "ba".

I also think she's saying "That" when she points. She says "da" a lot when she points at something and seems satisfied when I say what it is or give it to her. We'll see how that word progresses.


Ryan says "diaper" when we're changing him, and says "poopy" when he made a mess. One time at Grandma's house the changing mat was lying on the floor, and he just went over and sat on it. At our house he will often come straight to me after he does his business, or he will go over and start messing with the diapers on the table in the corner. Alyna will go off by herself when she has to pee or poop in her diaper.

We always knew they were smart kids, but we are constantly amazed to watch them learn new things.

growing updates

These pictures were taken at the mall in Tennessee last week. They had a good time in the riding toys even though we didn't turn them on.




The twins have both had growth spurts in the 2 weeks since their birthdays. When we returned from Tennessee they were obviously bigger than when we left. Each also cut a new tooth; Ryan's first, and Alyna's second. We think Alya's got a third one on the way.

Alyna's balance got much better over the last couple weeks, and she is walking and climbing everywhere now. Ryan is practically running already.

They have loved learning how all their new toys work, and reading all their new books. They look so proud of themselves when they figure out which actions will cause a toy to make noise. They will both crawl through the tunnel now, and have fun in it together.

They also like the bounce and spin pony that acts like a video game when we turn the tv part on. When they move on the pony different things come on the screen. There are about 5 different settings like the beach, a house, a farm, etc. It's quite a neat toy. It also has a music setting that works when the TV cords aren't plugged in.

Nana and Papa really spoiled them the week they were here by taking them outside a lot and actually letting them walk around. That week, Ryan walked all the way to our back gate, over to the fence, and back up to the porch. So the playpen on the porch is definitely not enough to keep them happy now. Shoes, socks, and a very attentive parent are necesarry. They love the water table, but get soaking wet each time. So it has to be saved for warm afternoons when we have time to change them afterward.

This morning seems to be a tough one for sharing toys. Ryan keeps taking whatever Alyna has, and she's not putting up with it. It's going to be a long week.

home again

We are home again from our week long visit to Grandma's house in Tennessee. (and I think we've brought our tails with us too)

It was a great visit. My sister who lives in Boston flew down on Friday, and my brother who attends Harding University drove over on Friday night. We got to have a few hours together shopping on Saturday and it was just like when I was in college... except my siblings are all grown up too. It was a lot of fun to pick out the kids Halloween costumes, and a couple toys for the kids with them.

Ryan got a monkey suit, and Alyna will be a butterfly of course. It's really a fairy costume, but most everyone at church knows she loves butterflies so it will pass. We just have to put them on a few times between now and the church Harvest party so they get used to the really weird clothes.

Sunday, my brother left, but Barry and my brother-in-law both flew in. Over the week we did lots more playing with the babies, shopping, and just hanging out together. I'm really glad they could make it down.

Ryan grew quite attatched to his "E- ma" during the week. He didn't even like it if she was holding Alyna, but grew especially fussy when she held another baby during the cradle roll class on Sunday. At night, he would actually call for her and cry until she came and gave him a goodnight hug.

My sister went with me (and the twins) to visit a college friend of mine who lives nearby. It was a lot of fun talking with her face to face and meeting her son, and niece. We keep in touch through Facebook and blogging, but getting together again is so much better.

One highlight of the trip for me was attending the ladies bible class at my Mom's church on the two Wednesday nights. They are sharing personal testimonies of God working in their life, and I was very uplifted by the 2 different stories I heard from the women there. God works in mysterious ways to bring about change in people's lives.

The flight home was uneventful, but still tough. You can't explain to a 1 year old why they can't get down from the seats... try two 1 year olds. Fortunately, we had 3 seats to ourselves, and on the second flight we actually each had our own row with one child. We didn't have to get off the plane for the second flight because it was going through to the destination so we let them down in the aisle for a few minutes and changed diapers before the next flight. Then it was bottles and bedtime... well trying to put them to sleep was interesting. They kept waving and playing peek-a-boo with the people around us. Eventually they went to sleep at about half an hour after their normal bedtime. I laid Alyna on the seat next to me for most of the flight. They were upset at first, but slept during the 1 1/2 hour drive home, and went straight to sleep in their cribs. They awoke at 2 am and we ended up giving them another bottle. We normally wouldn't, but it was a rough evening and they woke up in a different place than they'd gone to sleep which is always weird.

I got up with them at 5:50 am, 6:20, and 6:30, so I've stayed up... and now it's 7:30 and they are still asleep. I hope we'll have good nap times today.

They sun is out, but it's still cool outside. The babies will love running in our yard. It rained every day we were in TN so they couldn't play outside, and they really fussed about that. We did take them to the small mall in my parents town and let them walk all around on 2 days. That wore them out. We'll have to try that here on bad weather days this winter.

First Flight

The twins took their first airplane ride today as we flew with Grandma to Tennessee. Barry will come on Sunday, and we will fly home with him next Thursday.

It was fairly uneventful. We didn't purchase a seat for them but were able to have 3 seats for the 4 of us on both flights because they were not very full. Ryan's ears really bothered him on the second flight's descent, and he screamed for about 10 minutes. He wouldn't drink anything, chew on anything, or let me rub his jaw... it took several teething tablets, and the plane leveling off before he calmed down.

The babies were not happy to be in car seats for 45 minutes after the day of flying, even with Grandma sitting between them. At Grandma's house, the "old" toys in the box were a big hit. I remember playing with many of them. We also brought a few of the smaller toys they received for their birthdays.

Everyone thought they were beautiful, happy babies... and they are right. I'm glad to be in Tennessee again, and very happy to see have an extended visit with my family.

Happy 1st Birthday to Alyna and Ryan

One year ago, at about this time (4:30 a.m.), I was sitting in the recliner in the living room because I couldn't sleep anymore. I had to be up at about 5 am to get ready to leave for the hospital for my scheduled c-section... but I couldn't sleep past about 3. So I was watching the Army Wives episode on my DVR and praying that my babies would be fully healthy that day.

We had reached the 37th week in the pregnancy which was quite amazing since I had started having contractions at week 30. The twins were breach so there really was no option (these days) but to schedule the c-section.

The size of my family doubled in the span of 2 minutes as they were delivered into this world.

Alyna Michelle was born at 8:08 a.m., weighing 5 lbs 2 oz, and was 18 1/2 inches long.

Ryan William was all cramped up in my ribs and did the splits as soon as his sister left the womb. What a feeling it must have been to have all that room to move.

Ryan was stubbornly delivered at 8:10 a.m., weighing 4 lbs 14 oz, and was 20 inches long. (long and lanky)

They were both perfectly healthy and beautiful. The blessings poured down like rain from the LORD that day.

getting closer

It's less than a week to the twin's actual birthday... on the 15th. It's crazy how they've grown.

Grandma flew in last night, and Nana and Papa are still here until Sunday. They are loving and spoiling the babies. I'm planning and shopping for the big cookout party on Sunday. Barry is on his shift right now.

The twins have had fun this week playing with their new birthday toys that we already got out. We wanted to play with them while the grandparents are still here. They got 2 new push/ride toys from Nana and Papa Love. One is red rocket from Little Einsteins, and the other is Little Mermaid. They have lots of buttons that say things and play music. Grandpa and Grandma Lee bought them a Jr. picnic table for snack time. Mommy and Daddy bought them a 6' tunnel for Ryan to crawl through, and a water table with a water wheel and boats because Alyna loves to splash in the water.

Fun, fun, fun...

Busy week ahead

This week is very busy with company, planning, shopping, and having the twins 1st birthday party next weekend.

Barry's parents are arriving this evening and staying all week. My mom comes in on Wednesday evening, and my brother and his family will arrive for the weekend. That's a lot of groceries without even counting the party.

Today is all about cleaning up enough for Barry's parents. We weren't really expecting them until mid-week, but are glad they can come sooner. They haven't seen their grandchildren since March, and it will be easier to do the cleaning and shopping necessary for the party with extra adults in the house. (I hope...)

Oh, and we are officially TV free... except what we can stream off the internet to watch. I think doing it before the new season of shows starts will make it an even easier transition.

I downloaded a "Living Aquarium" screen-saver that has fish swimming around the coral, and the kids like to watch it. It's very calming with the bubble sounds in the background, or I can stream radio shows from the internet.

If I don't get to blog much in the next couple weeks, I'll catch you up later... September is going to come and go very fast around here.

counting down

It is now September, and in less than 2 weeks the twins will share their 1st birthday. It's amazing to think back to how small and dependent they were. Now they are walking, talking/babbling, eating solid food, and becoming more independent every day.

I am not sad to see the baby stage go away. I have precious memories, but I am looking forward to watching them grow even more. It's exciting to think of all the things they will learn to do in the next 5 years.

Ryan can now carry items across the room in his hands, and even bend over to pick things up. It is a careful balancing act to be sure. And I believe I felt a tooth popping through his lower gum this morning, but I'll have to check again later to verify that. I also think he said Alyna's name a couple times yesterday while they were playing together. It sounded like "Linna".

Alyna is walking farther distances every day. She has been sleeping a whole lot the last two days, so I think she's about to grow again. Her new funny face of the week is to pucker her lips out, squint, and tighten her nose while blowing out a "phtt" sound. We do it back to her and then all have a great laugh. Our little actress.

The blessings continually flow... and this next 2 weeks will be a precious time for me.