Long time, no type!

Hello everybody! Sorry its been so long!!

We have officially moved to Greenville, SC and are currently staying with my parents. We close on our house on the 13th (I can't wait!!). The other reason for the lack of posts is we sold our desktop Mac and bought a MacBook Pro so we can be even more "connected" (like we weren't before!).

Here are a few pics from Halloween, I'll leave you with these and a promise to rededicate myself to my blog.

An apple a day...

This picture was just too cute not to share! I was eating an apple and Pressy thought it looked pretty yummy so I let her gnaw on it for a little while. She did NOT want to give it back! But it sure made for a cute fall picture -- especially with her little overalls.

Shoesies!

Well, I finally bought the girls their first pair of "real" shoes. I picked them up at Target and think they are adorable!


They're cute, right??


Notice Lyla has a bow in the picture above. Somehow she managed to lose it (and I don't even see it in the picture anywhere!) just before she went after Pressley's new shoes. They do think shoes are fascinating -- like built in toys -- which is especially helpfull in the car!



I also got them some Pedipeds. Lorren and I have been drooling over these adorable shoes for a while now! Lorren found them on ebay with free shipping. I bought them and forgot she had said they only had two pairs -- leaving none for Savannah! But, it worked out to my benefit. They only sent me one pair and when I let them know they sent me the second pair for free! So, Lorren was happy for me. And, she got Savannah some from somewhere else. I think we're all good now.
I don't have any pictures of the girls in these shoes yet, but they have worn them several times and they are absolutely darling! I LOVE them!!

I have had a secret...

I haven't been blogging lately because I have had a secret and its been killing me not to share it!

We are moving back to Greenville!!

We have been praying for the opportunity to move back to Greenville for several months and things have finally worked out! David has taken a wonderful job with Michelin Tire -- one he is very excited about and looking forward to!

We have been going to and from Greenville every weekend for the past few weeks looking for a house and we finally found one that is perfect for us. We made an offer on Saturday and it was accepted last night!

Its a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath house with a bonus room. The lower level is my favorite, its completely open, one room flows into the other, which I just love! The yard needs some work and it doesn't have a fence, which we really wanted, but we will fix all that ASAP.

As excited as we are, we are so sad to leave our wonderful friends in the ATL. God has blessed us here in so many ways. Its very clear why he had us here for the past 3 years, to make life-long friendships, get away from "home" for a while and of course, meet the docs that would give us our beautiful baby girls!

But, our house has plenty of room for company, and we are going to get our fence up as soon as possible (so Paul and Erin can bring their dogs!), so.... COME VISIT US!!

Vay-k 2008, Watauga Lake, Baby! Part 1.

Remember this post describing our amazing trip to the beach with David's family?? Well, obviously I don't know how to be selective and narrow down which pictures to post. I've been avoiding blogging about our amazing trip to the lake with my family because, once again, I don't know how to narrow down the slew of pictures. So, I've decided to post in installments. Keep checking back often, I'll try to get through all these pictures soon.

For this first installment of Vay-K 2008, aka Watauga Lake, baby! I'm going to start at the end and post our annual family picture. We took this just before we left the lake house.

And here we are last year, same house, same fireplace, last day there. I had just found out I was pregnant THAT DAY, of course I had no idea we would be returning with TWINS! And, my sister got pregnant while we were there!! So, although it looks like a photo of 8, there are really 11 in this picture, isn't that awesome?? Isn't GOD AWESOME?!? He has been so good to our family!


Oh yeah, and my mom was so proud she was wearing the same outfit in both pictures. So was Cole (same shirt, anyway), but I think he was just copying my mom. He's such a kiss-up.

Meet Leah!

This post is LONG overdue! Some of you may know, some may not, but I have been watching my friend Shari's baby, Leah 3 days a week. She is such a doll!
Isn't she??
My girls adore her! The 3 of them play so well together.

Must've been hot!

Maybe we had the thermostat set a little too high for Lyla's preference. Thankfully, she knew how to handle it.

Trip to NJ

Last weekend we DROVE to NJ. Well, WE didn't, my dad did. We went to see my grandparents, I wanted them to meet the girlies. It went so well! My dad drove through the night so the girlies could sleep, they did amazing. I was so proud of them. They woke up every once and a while, but usually only for a few minutes. And then, when we arrived in NJ they were cheerful and didn't seem the least bit overtired. Pressy was right in the middle of cutting her upper teeth and growing an ear infection but you'd never know it! She was so cheerful, as was Lyla.

It was so special to see my girlies with my grandparents. It meant the world to me. My grandfather just loved looking at the babies. His memory slips at times, but he watched them the whole time and kept commenting on how adorable and cute they were. And my sweet Gramma kept calling the girls "lover", it was absolutely precious! I don't think I've ever been more proud of my angels. Its such a great feeling to see other people (especially people you love and respect) taking joy in your children. The girlies also got to meet my Aunt Elaine, Uncle Roy and cousins Greg and Matt and Matt's wife Naomi and their girls Jenny and Kirsten.

David really wanted to see one more game at Yankee Stadium but we didn't have enough time. Oh well. It was still one of the most amazing family trips we've been on -- and definitely our farthest destination!

First Boo Boo

While we were in NJ (pictures to come...), Lyla tumbled over onto a plastic monkey toy and got her first boo-boo, a little bruise on her forehead. It was never very bad, in fact, it showed up more as it was healing then it did right after she fell. You can kinda see it here above her left eye.

And, the book shes chewing on, Rainbow Fish, I bought at a garage sale -- or was given for free when I bought another toy -- it is a fav around here!! They love to chew on it.

And, the hair (my hair), wrapped around her fingers is so typical. Drives me nuts! I find my hair all over the house and always in their hands. And now they have started pulling hair which has only makes it worse.

Camping

I really want to go camping this year. We don't have much longer before it'll be too cold. Am I crazy to want to go camping with 2 babies only 6 months old? Probably. But, at least my loving hubby is crazy with me, hes all for it!

So, who wants to go with us?? Anyone??

Any suggestions as to where we should go??

My family went camping a few times when we were young and I loved it! I really want to make this a family tradition, even if we only get away for a couple nights each year, I think it'll build strong family relationships and memories. And give us GREAT pictures!

I just saw this post on Brandi's blog about her family going camping and although I'm sure its going to be a challenge with kids at any age, what fun!

So, who's with me? Seriously. We would LOVE company!

Another Pressy update

She is doing wonderfully! Slept in HER bed ALL NIGHT LAST NIGHT! Praise God!! That means I got a good night sleep, first time in over a week -- and I NEEDED it!! She has been playful, not so clingey, did wonderfully in church this morning, and is eating a little bit more.

Yea!!

We made it through our first ear infection.

I made this!

As some of you know, I love to cook and bake. I have fallen in love with Ree at The Pioneer Woman and all her wonderful recipes. Everything I've tried has turned out perfectly!! The other night I made Tostadas. I home-made almost every ingredient and it was so fun! I made the refried beans from dry pinto beans. I made th ebrisket and shredded it, I cooked the tortillas (I didn't make them from corn meal like my amazing sister has done, but I did cook them). I made the Pico de Gallo, which means I added lots of Cilantro (mmmmm, Cilantrooooo). And it was delish! I've made other impressive meals, but this one was so colorful (and I had a camera nearby, and I'm now a bloggger!)! And I didn't take any shortcuts. And, I am proud.

Pressley update

She is kinda up and down right now. She isn't sleeping all day, but she is very clingy and doesn't want to be put down. She is still sleeping in bed with us (ugh!), because of the congestion she isn't able to sleep on her belly like normal. Hopefully she'll be back in her own bed soon, for all our sakes.

She was doing better yesterday than she is today. Please continue to keep her your prayers! Hopefully in another day or two she will be back to her old self!!

Our first ILLNESS!

We've had little colds, runny noses and rashes, but this is our first biggie. Pressy has an ear infection! It breaks my heart to see her this way. It has gotten pretty bad because she was on an antibiotic already. Let me back up. When I took them in for their 6 month appointment a week and a half ago the dr said she had some fluid on her ear, since David has a nasty history of ear infections, she decided to treat it with an antibiotic right away. When we went to NJ I forgot the rest of her Rx (she had 2 1/2 days left), I called the dr and she said it was probably fine, and didn't call any more in to the pharmacy in NJ.

Since Pressy is teething, I expected her to be a little fussy. Her top teeth are soooo close, there are big white bulges in her gums and I know they are going to pop through any day now. So, since I assumed her fussiness was related to her teething, and she was already on an antibiotic, I didn't do anything. Today she was sooo fussy and her low-grade fever (which I assumed was from the teething), spiked to 102. I called David, he came home from work and took Pressy to the doc (I stayed home with Lyla and Leah). The doc said Pressy's ear infection had ruptured her ear drum! He put her on a stronger antibiotic and gave us drops to help her ear drum heal.

She is sooo pitiful! She has slept almost the whole afternoon, we can't even get her to wake up to drink her bottle. Its like she is so exhausted from the pain and fussing, she has just kinda given up. I think thats a good thing for now, she can rest and let her little body heal.

Please pray for her! It really does just break my heart to see her this way.



This is how she was almost all day, sound asleep (hopefully recovering!) in her swing. We tried to give her a bottle and some food, hence the bib, but she wouldn't eat or drink. In the end I don't think we did too bad, she drank about 16-18oz total, she normally drinks around 28. But all she ate was 1/2 a yogurt first thing in the morning and she is normally a VERY good eater.

Hopefully THIS antibiotic will do the trick and she will be back to her old self in no time!

On a side note, Miss Lyla has decided to get some attention too and has refused to go to bed!! It took us about 3 hours to get her to sleep last night. She goes from not tired at all and raring to go to exhausted and unable to keep her eyes open but figiting to stay awake with all her might! I don't know what thats about, but its just the icing on the cake to two already worn out parents.

6 MONTHS old!!

I've avoided this post for the obvious reason... I don't want to admit my babies are half of a YEAR old already!! Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo. We were at the lake (which I still need to blog about) on the 29th and we had a little celebration. David and I bought the girlies their fist doll and let them open it first thing in the morning. It was really fun and made me ever more excited for Christmas and their first birthday... although those milestones can take their SWEET TIME getting here.

As you've probably noticed, I'm awful at narrowing down my photos to just a select few, I want to share them all! So, here are 12 photos depicting the present opening. Pressy's facial expressions are hilarious! And its obvious Lyla just woke up, humored us for a little while, took a chomp or two of her new dolly, and then was ready to go roll around the floor. Enjoy!

Rub-a-dub-dub, twins in a tub!

We LOVE bathtime around here!! The girlies are getting so big, so fast. I know I say that all the time, but now they are playing in the tub (gotta get some bath toys!)! It seems like just yesterday we were sponge bathing them in the sink and they were screaming! Now they sit in their bath seats (thanks Shari!!) and splash and play and hate getting out! I love these girlies so much! When I look at their pictures, I can't control my emotions, I'm so overwhelmed with love for them. I have prayed for my children for as long as I can remember and now here they are and they are amazing! More beautiful, fun and precious than I ever could have imagined. I praise God for these girls and pray for them constantly. Sometimes I can't even believe the things I pray for... their future husbands, the rough middle school years, their relationship with David and I, their relationships with their cousins, grandparents, siblings, etc, etc, etc. And I pray that God will always remind me how precious my time is with them, and he is good and faithful to remind me of this in some of the most surprising times, when I'm feeding them their bottle, playing peek-a-boo, changing their diaper, rocking them in the middle of the night. So many wonderful memories, sounds and smells that I don't ever want to forget!

Oh wait... I was supposed to be sharing some fun photos from bath time, right? Well, here they are!






And, of course, a classic...

A glimpse into David's future

I can totally see David being this dad, and nothing could make me more happy or proud!!

Visit with Abby and John Goff!

This is way overdue! Abby and John spent a week with us in August, we had so much fun! John did a great job of showing me what I needed to do to child-proof for the girlies. I wish I had more toys that interested him, although he did think kicky-bear was pretty cool!



The last time we spent time with John was in May, he has grown up so much! He was very interested in the girlies and VERY helpful! He loved to help feed them their bottle -- and he really, really loved sneaking a shot of formula from time to time.

Lyla fell head over heels in love with John! He didn't even have to look at her, just in her direction and she broke out in uncontrollable giggles and grins. And when he did pay attention to her, Oh my! She was gone!! (i can't belive I don't have any good pictures of this!)

It was a busy week around here, but I'm so glad I got to spend that time with Abs and John!!




Abby blogged about our swimming adventures here.

This just in....

Can you tell she is saying "dadadada". She said this to David yesterday for the first time and has said it almost all day long today.

Here she is again, but shes getting a little frustrated (then David called me at the end of my recording so it ends abruptly).

Speaking of eating...

Since we're on the subject of eating, I'll update you on these big girlies diets!

I've made everything they've eaten (except the rice cereal) and have loved it!! We have come across anything they don't like, but they do have some favorites.

They have eaten rice cereal (plain and flavored), carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, beets, avocado, banana, pears, apples, butternut squash, yogurt and peaches. I think thats everything.

They are now eating 3 times a day, I just added breakfast in this week and I noticed their morning nap lengthen right away! Yea!

Here are some mealtime photos.

Beets!!



For one meal at the lake we fed them their whole dinner through the mesh bags, they enjoyed it and I know its good for them to learn to feed themselves, but WHAT A MESS!! They had peaches, banana and avocado. Then we took them out back and tossed them in the lake! Not really, but they did go straight to the tub!!

Big Girlies eating in restaurants!

The girlies did great at restaurants their first couple of months (like most babies), then it got old. They had a hard time staying in their carries long enough for us to eat a meal. We had pretty much resigned ourselves to meals at home for a while, until we got these:


They girlies are now fabulous little diners!

Here we are at Tin Drum, one of our favorite Asian restaurants. (i can't believe how filthy the door is behind Lyla!)




And here we are at Taco Mac with Aunt Abby, Uncle Jeff, cousin John and our friends Ashely, Will, Shari and Kidd.