Grandparent's Breakfast

The twin's preschool hosted a Grandparent's Day breakfast and we were so excited that 2 of the 4 grandparents could attend. My Dad tried to make it but wasn't able to get a flight in to Charlotte until the following day. Pop Po was certainly missed but the kids had a great time nonetheless. It was also jammie day for Emma Cate's class and the first day of the NCAA tournament so the kids wore their wolfpack best. Unfortunately, it didn't help us out much!

like father like daughter!

St. Patrick's Day

I got up a little early to make the babies St. Patrick's Day extra special! Holden ate his green eggs without issue but Emma Cate wasn't so sure about them. The green pancakes went down quickly! The must have had a big day at school. I met my mom at my house after work and found EC fast asleep in the car. I thought she looked adorable clutching her baby doll!

Boo now makes an appeareance at every meal. I think since we took away the pacis, EC has become much more attached to her "booies" and "ludies" (loveys). They go with us everywhere but she knows they have to stay in the car when we get somewhere. I am afraid I'm going to have to buy some back up Boos in case we lose one!

Scenes from Our Weekend- St. Patty's Day and Nursery Updates

We had such a fun and productive weekend spent with family we love!

I got a text from Jay midday Friday containing this picture. He is not one to run out and buy toys so I was pretty shocked. He is ready to start teaching the kids some baseball. He had it out with the kids on Friday evening and to Jay's disappointment, all Holden did was take the ball of the tee and run away with it. Future running back instead?

I had a bunch of sewing to do so I headed over to my mom's after supper to get to work. It's so relaxing and I was able to keep any eye on the State game. We were so excited to knock off Syracuse! 

From the hooop: I put the monogram on Shep's bumper fabric! The seamtress is coming to pick up the fabric today to start working on the bumpers! 

I was up bright and early Saturday to head back to my mom's house to sew. I had been putting off making this kids St. Patty's day monograms to match their new pants. I just found a new site to order blank stuff to monogram/applique and am LOVING the quality! 

We got to the parade a little late and weren't able to get seats. Jay and my Mom were great to hold the babies on their shoulders to get a better view. Holden looked like this the entire time. He was amazed by everything. The parade was a little hokey but the kids still had a good time. 

Poor baby makes the worst faces! I promise he was happy/excited in this pic.

She never really smiled but looked interested the entire time. 

our ?happy? family of four point five!

I'm truly not a fan of selfies but if I don't take them, I'm not in any pictures with my kids. I want them to know that mommy was actually present in their lives! My face is also beginning to get its pregnancy swelling on.

We went to the park uptown after the parade for lunch and running around time. The babies did great but were all over the place. I definitely need another adult to help me corral the kids in this open space.

H was just lounging eating his pb & j. 

she LOVED to jump off of the side. Hopefully she'll be doing this into the pool in a couple months!

love this shot of my mama and emma cate against the city

daddy was getting intense while swinging H.

I was feeling a little stressed when we returned home after our morning outing. Last week was sooo busy and our house was showing it. I have said it so many times but I am DYING for a clutter free house. I want to purge everything and have less but purging always gets pushed to the side in favor of other things. I am treasuring spending time with my kids rather than spending time on my home but once they go to bed and I see the mess/clutter and I freak out a bit. I want someone to come over and help me purge/organize my house! I cannot take the mess anymore! I'm hoping I can get around to doing this stuff on maternity leave.

Instead of cleaning/purging, I dropped my mom off at her house and decided to sew a little. It is so relaxing making things for my family and I'm so proud the things I make. I had ordered this bow holder for Emma Cate a week ago and wanted to put a monogram on it and get it hung. It was so nice to cross a little project off of my to do list!

Again, instead of staying home and cleaning, we took advantage of the amazing weather and walked up to Zoe's Kitchen for dinner. They just opened a new location and it's about 1.5 miles from our house and a really easy walk! I often forget how close some of these places are! Walking is such a stress reliever and my kids love seeing all the cars go by on our walks!

again. the selfies.

Sunday morning was actually really calm around our house! We came up with a good game plan to get ready and out the door for church. Are Sunday's stressful at anyone else's house? Sunday am is bath morning at our house and getting everyone fed, showered, and dressed before 9 can be a production! 

For lent, in addition to giving up highly processed foods (still going strong with no candy, soda, chips, etc!) I also decided that I wanted to look into a Sunday school class. We've been members at our church for over a year now and haven't gotten plugged in. This past Thursday, I went to a Mommy SOS class which I didn't know at the time (one of my neighbors took me) was an extension of one of our church's Sunday school classes. Mommy SOS was a really great small group and I loved the wine and apps social part before we got down to our study. Anyway, Jay and I went to the class on Sunday and really enjoyed it! We are probably the youngest there but have kids similar ages to everyone else. They do a ton of activities and it seems like a great place for us to be. I'm excited we tried this out!

Sunday was sooo rainy and yucky but we had a strict plan (since we couldn't enjoy the weather) to get everything accomplished. We did a family target trip (never again with hungry kids) and had lunch at Pizza Fusion. Their veggie pizza was Ah-mazing. Unfortunately their organic sauce has proven REALLY hard to remove from kids clothing (AHHH). I had to pick up some things at trader joe's and Jay volunteered to stay in the car with the kids and watch Nemo. I only let them watch the car DVD on trips but if it would buy me a little time to grocery shop, I was all for it. I think Jay enjoys that movie as much as the kids.

We came home and changed into comfy t-shirts and pjs and the kids took great naps. I got to work painting the nursery. I tried a ton of different techniques before really finding what worked, unfortunately, by the time I got to this point I was on the little wall to the right of the window. Maybe I should have started there. I got cups of water and added splashed of different paint colors. Some I applied with an old rag and some with a brush. The brush covered a lot more and I prefer the look of the rag. Overall I'm pretty happy with how it came out. At one point I had put two cups on a ladder and was working underneath the ladder. I forgot the cups were up there and tried to move the ladder while I was seated. The full cups hit the floor and paint went EVERYWHERE. Thank goodness it was diluated. Jay ran to help me and we got most of it off the floor, rocker, dresser, and crib. A little stained the wall and we're going to have to touch that up.

painted wall

This guy woke up from his nap an hour before his sister and we let him help. He was obsessed with Daddy's drill and helping out. Jay got a little upset with me when he noticed I was letting Holden practice hammering on our hardwoods (I'm totally one of those people who believe our home is a reflection of family. I am more upset by a house that doesn't seem lived in compared to a few small dings in the floor... you may want to ask me how I feel about this in a year after we get all of our hardwoods refinished! haha).

While Daddy hung the drapes, we heard Holden making a lot of racket in the hallway outside. He found Jay's dress shoes and decided to do a little tap dance down the hall.

I'm loving how things turned out with the deer head and curtains. I was so iffy about the curtains and thought about using white sheers to let some light in but really like the look of these navy ones. We're adding  DIY shelves above the chair on the left  and possibly an old clock to the wall to the right of the window (it depends on how within reach of baby the clock will be). Jay is also working on a rustic toy box to go between the foot of the crib and the wall. 

I think little man is pretty obsessed with this deer. He's going to love it when he and Shep share a room in a few years. I think I might keep this theme going on! I also have to add for memory that H seems to be getting a little jealous of Shep's things. He walks in and points to the deer head everyday, he takes Shep's lovey and teddy bear (that used to be his but he NEVER touched) and walks around with them and tried to put on a sweet pair of truck and tractor pj's that a friend bought for Shep (don't worry I went to HA last night to get him his own pair :)). 

I was craving something home cooked but did not want to do the cooking. My mom made my Grandmother's Swedish meatballs and brought them over with mashed potatoes for dinner. I can't remember the last time I've had a home cooked meal that I haven't cooked. It was amazing! Thanks Mom! 

My uncle (a gulf war vet) recently wrote a little thank you to my mom for all the support she and the rest of his family provided while he was overseas and mentioned the cookie bars that she used to send him. I haven't had one of those in YEARS (seriously like since he was overseas over 20 years ago) and immediately had a craving. Mom brought everything over to our house and cooked with the babies while Jay and I prepped for the Monday ahead. I snapped a few quick pics of the babies cooking with their Gigi. 

I tried this recipe for homemade fruit snacks. I didn't buy enough gelatin and I think that's where I made my mistake. They did taste pretty good and I made a few star shaped ones (think jello-jigglers) to send in for snack at preschool.

hmmmm cookie bars!

The other half of the nursery is looking fab so I figured I'd post a behind the scenes look  at this half! This is the view sitting in the rocker. I still need to finish waxing the crib, making the frame for above Shep's bed, working on the crib skirt, having the bumpers, changing pad cover, and pillows made, finding hardware for the dresser, purchasing a laundry basket to go in the corner where the light is, painting the frame to go above the dresser, and stocking the drawers. We did get a LOT of closet progress made yesterday though! We washed and stain removed all the newborn clothes, built the shelves for the closet, purchased 2 out of 4 needed baskets and organized all the blankets. 

We had a great mix of productivity with fun and play. I'm still working on finding that balance between getting it all done and spending quality time with my kids. Goals for this weekend include finishing the nursery completely (hoping the bumpers are finished), cleaning out the upstairs of my house, hopefully starting on the basement, and making LOTS of trips to goodwill.

Baby #3 Week 35

Yay for 35 weeks! This was my last post with the twins so next week will be a completely new place for me! Thankfully I am still feeling great and not ready to have this baby yet. Towards the end of the evening I'm definitely moving slower but all in all everything is really good!

I had a Dr. appointment on Tuesday and learned that I gained some weight and my tummy was measuring a little big (35 weeks at 34.5 weeks). I got to see my primary doctor, who I hadn't seen since the very beginning. He is definitely my primary for a reason. He is so calm, kind, and reassuring. I told him about the specialist asking about diabetes and he actually apologized because he thought it was rude. He told me that I have a gained a perfect amount of weight and passed my diabetes test with flying colors and not to worry about the size of this baby.

We started talking delivery options and thinking that planned c-section is the way to go. After talking with Jay we are thinking that we want to push it out to 39.5 weeks instead of 39. This gives us an extra weekend to get things done. I know that babies come on their own time but having this little plan makes me feel a little more in control (which we all know I thrive on). I'm heading back in at 36.5 weeks to start the lovely "manual checks" for labor signs and to firm up delivery plans.

We are trying to finish the nursery this weekend. We haven't spent a lot of time on it during the week because we are staying up later with the gorgeous sunshine and then tiring out once the kids go to sleep. We did purchase a shelf for the closet and I got a few things organized. I'm planning to do all of the laundry tonight and get all of his clothes hung and diapers put away. I've also got to put some hours in at the sewing machine to applique and monogram a few things for baby.

I'm going to spend some time this afternoon looking for hardware for Shep's dresser. It came with these plastic casters that are hideous! I've convinced Jay to do two more projects before we call it a day. He's making a toy bin and shelves out of reclaimed wood that we have leftover. I'm so excited to see how these projects turn out. I love how this nursery has so many personal touches. My nursery projects for the weekend include white-washing the pallet wall, waxing the crib, and painting this really cool mirror I picked up at homegoods the other night. I have a feeling we'll be cutting it close between getting all the fabric sewn and completing the finishing touches!

Pregnancy Highlights:

Today's Date: Friday, March 14, 2014

How Far Along: 35 weeks 

Pregnancy Countdown: 35 days until due date!

Size of babies: A Coconut. The baby weigh between 4.2 to 5.8lbs and should be between 17.2 and 18.7 inches long.  I'm guessing S is measuring at a good 6lbs by now

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm up 4 pounds. I didn't weigh myself last week so I'm guessing I've gained it in the past two weeks which is fine by me. I was hoping to stay under 25 but looks like it'll be more like 30. My total right now is 24 lbs. 

Maternity Clothes: Yes, I have around 3 tops that fit. It is so hard with spring weather. I don't want to buy any more clothes but can't really wear my sweaters anymore.

Gender: Boy- Arthur Shepherd Carroll

Movement: OMG a ton! He is nuts. Jay finally felt him going crazy and was all how do you sleep with all that going on? 

Sleep: Back to sleeping really well. Not waking up during the night at all :) LOVING IT! This is crazy but I am still halfway sleeping on my tummy! I tried doing this at Jay's mom's house when we stayed a few weeks ago and couldn't. Our mattress is super soft and I'm thinking that is the only way this works for me. We've been talking about getting an new firmer mattress but will definitely be waiting until we are DONE having children :) 

What I miss: getting out of my seat without round ligament pain. It has been intense! Also wine.

Cravings: Last night I wanted proscuitto soooo badly! I have a serious love for that stuff but only the really good ($30/lb) kind so I only buy it when I really want a treat!

Symptoms: Not too many. I have contractions at night that will stop me in my tracks but none are consistent. I need to use the restroom more frequently and I've got a lot of pressure happening on my hips and pelvis. 

Best Moment this week: Watching Holden love on baby Shep. He always points to my belly and says baby and will randomly run up and give my belly a hug and a big kiss! On the contrary, Emma Cate is terrified of my belly and stays as far away as she can!

Twin Update 20.5 months

Just a few things I want to remember about my babies at 20.5 months old. Big news this weekend... the pacis are gone. We are still adjusting to earlier wake up times and shorter naps but that could also be the time change. Holden gave his up easily and Emma Cate still says paci when she is upset but a little cuddle with Boo and she's good.

Emma Cate
You are still so feisty. You are a stubborn little girl and you remind your Gigi of your mama. I guess karma comes back around... You LOVE to hide and then look at us and say "I see you". You say is really fast and with purpose, like ic yooouuu. If a say peek you'll respond with ka-boo. You have definite opinions on everything. We'll ask you if you want something and you'll give us a clear yes or no. You've been learning about time out recently and you do not like it. You are quick to hit the dogs and Holden if they get too close to you. You are not one to love and cuddle. You are Miss INDEPENDENT. I love that God gave you such a strong personality but know that you are going to frustrate your daddy and I :) You love to hide in the corners of your crib and give big smiles. You are always so sweet when we come to get you from your crib. You are the BEST helper and will pick up things and bring us your shoes and socks. You have been LOVING going outside. You love the bubbles, pushing your Y bike around, and swinging. I'm hoping that we can get Daddy to install your swing soon. If I mention outside, you are quick to sit down for me to put your shoes (shooooos) and socks on. You are quite the little imitator! You got your first skinned knee this week and love showing your boo boo. You are still into accessories and love hats and sunglasses. You've finally started wearing bows and I love it! You have started requesting to go potty and you'll sit on there for a long time. You've only actually gone in the potty twice. I'm taking a laid back approach to this. I'm thinking we'll work on it harder after the new baby is born and I am home with you all day. When we head to the fountains at froyo or the mall you are so cautious with your pennies. You like to drop them in to hear the kerplunk sound. You are also cautious on the steps and don't like to go down on your belly anymore. You prefer to use the handrail like an adult.

Holden
You are Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Gosh you are soooo sweet and such a flirt but then you can turn into a little terror! You love looking at us and making us smile with your silly faces. You are a good little imitator like your sister. You hate to be left out. If Emma Cate falls, you will fall too just to get attention. If someone coughs, you fake cough too. You are way more patient than your sister. You recently bit Emma Cate pretty hard. She was flailing her arms at you and you grabbed and bit her. I didn't see it but you definitely left a mark. You are getting a little mischievous. You'll look at us and listen for instructions and then do the exact opposite. You love you some Gigi and Pop Pops. You call Pop Pops, Pop-pooh and every time you say his name you say airplane. I'm guessing you either understand that we went to see Pop Pops and rode an airplane or that he always visits us on an airplane. Speaking of, you LOVE planes. We've been outside a lot lately and every time you hear one you go crazy looking for it. You love when we spot it and you can watch it fly overhead. Thank goodness we live on a flight pattern! You are LOVING cutting the grass outside. You also love your trucks and especially when you make them crash. Crash is a new favorite word. You also love to say bless you when someone coughs or sneezes. Sometimes you fake sneeze to say it to yourself. It comes out as bess you. You are also very familiar with time out. You throw your cup and food at the dinner table and wind up there a lot. You are quick to say sorry and give a hug to get out. You are very affectionate and still run up to give me big hugs randomly while you are playing. You kiss with your head and mommy has been head butted a few times recently. You love to do fist pound with your daddy and I had to tell your teachers about it because I was afraid they would think you were trying to punch someone! You are getting good at throwing and looks like you'll be a righty! We've visited the fountain at froyo a lot and you've got a pretty good penny throwing arm!

You both are so funny and I have the BEST time hanging out with you. You make your Daddy and I laugh so hard and bring our family so much joy. We couldn't imagine our lives without you.

Scenes from Our Weekend- picture overload

We had a busy, fun, and super productive weekend. I am simply exhausted this morning. I woke up at 4:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. I could REALLY use a nice green tea right about now to wake me up!

I am a believer that the weekend really starts on Thursday soooo without further ado...

Jay and I had a fun date night planned for Thursday. We got a really babysitter so we didn't feel guilty staying out! The kid's school does this really cool art night. It's like a gallery crawl where you walk the halls of the preschool and a ton of cool art projects are displayed. The kids' work was so good and I loved how they took pictures of our little artists creating their masterpieces. We got our sitter early and stopped by the mall so I could get my nails done before heading out. That's how crazy our week has been! I had to use date night to squeeze in a manicure! Anyhow after the art crawl we went out with some of the other parents to Carpe Diem. I had the BEST veggie pizza and will add that to my list of favorite foods! We also had a great time chatting with other families.

I had to work on Friday but Jay was able to take the day off to stay home with the twins instead of getting a sitter (they don't go to school on Fridays). He had some house projects to work too. 

This one has FINALLY been keeping a bow in her hair. Only problem is keeping up with the bows if they fall out! Our kids are such messy eaters. We usually go sans clothes at breakfast and dinner so we only have to stain treat their clothes from lunch. 

this guy LOVES his daddy!

Jay sent me this pic from their errand running session. So freaking sweet. It made me want to run home sooo bad! I was pretty shocked because normally they behave so poorly in the side by side stroller. Moms of multiples or those having a second baby, I totally recommend getting a front and back stroller instead of side by side! Mine pull hair and bite when they are sitting side by side.

I got home and the rain had FINALLY stopped and the sun was coming out! We made the most of the time outside. The twins are LOVING bubbles and we spent a good chunk of outside time blowing and chasing bubbles on the front porch.

Friday night, my mom and I hit up the Harris Y Consignment sale. I'm getting good at this consignment sale shopping thing! I can easily spot the brands I want and know which toys my kids will love. I got Holden a new dump truck and my mom bought him a fire truck. My kids have SOOO many toys so I'm really selective about what I get them. If I'm going to buy a toy I have to KNOW they are going to love it and right now H is sooo into trucks and I figured these would be great outside toys for the summer.

Saturday was busy busy busy but sooo much fun!

Holden found his new trucks as soon as he woke up Saturday morning. WHOOOA was the response I got! He was so excited. I love doing stuff that makes them so happy!

After baths and breakfast we headed to the Y for gymnastics. The kids had a blast running around and were so surprised when Gigi stopped by for the last 10 minutes of class. They LOVE their Gigi.

someone LOVED being thrown into the pit.

someone didn't

Headed over to the Londry twin's first birthday party after gymnastics. Seantel had every detail covered and they the party was absolutely adorable. Everything this family does is cute! The weather was awesome and the babies loved playing outside with all of the kids. I can't believe that I didn't take ANY pictures. You'll have to check out her blog to see all the cute pictures from the party. Happy First Birthday Ellie and Graham! 

The twins were exhausted but naptime didn't run very smoothly. We decided that we would take paci's away this weekend. They only use them in the car, at nap, and at bed time but it was time to go! The first few car trips were a little rough for emma cate. Nap time took a good 30 minutes for them to both go down and I'm not sure if Holden ever fell asleep. I ran errands during nap and Jay worked on the nursery. He called me around 3:30 and asked me to come home and grab Holden so that he could finish working. My mom and I had planned to go to the sleepy poet and Hobby Lobby to look for things for Shep's room. We picked up the babies and shopped until 7pm. We met Jay for a late dinner at Rusty's and then put the kids to bed. Bedtime was pretty easy because they were sooo worn out. 

Jay sent me a bunch of progress pictures throughout the day!

trying to figure out furniture arrangement

I'm realizing the rug I purchased was too small and I'm not loving the furniture arrangement. Luckily, my mom came over Sunday to help with that. Jay and I spent a good 45 minutes moving everything around. I'm also so in love with this dresser. It was a craigslist buy that Jay refinished. Seriously he is so handy! I'm looking for new hardware and planning to switch the casters to brass. I can't decide if I want to put brass casters on the crib too...

does anyone else creep on their sleeping children. I love to peek in on them at night and take their picture to show Jay. This girl seriously LOVES her dog Boo. 

He is the funniest to watch sleep. His legs are leaning up against the armoire. He sleeps in the craziest positions. No wonder my bumpers are all misshapen! 

We woke up around 8am which is really 7 thanks to the time change and headed out to celebrate Daddy's birthday at our favorite brunch spot, Toast. Afterwards, I took the babies to run a bunch of errands and to give Jay the morning off. We went to the mall and got some birthday gifts and Holden got a new pair of Sperry's. He is looking like such a big boy. He should really wear a size 6 shoe but we had to get him a 7 because his poor feet are too chubby. Jay is so worried he'll be a short chubby little guy which would be total karma because Jay had a friend that he made fun of for being the same way...

They got balloons at nordstrom and this was their face as Holden's got caught in the wheel of the stroller and broke away from the string. They were precious watching it float to the ceiling. 

We stopped at Starbucks at the mall while waiting for the mall stores to open. I made the mistake of grabbing a "granola" bar to find out that it was primarily chocolate. Another stained outfit. 

Jay and I spent ALL of nap time working on this nursery. It took him FOREVER to make the final cuts on the pallet wall. Getting around the window, electrical outlet and floor vent took sooo many cuts. While he did that, I started finishing the crib with Annie Sloan's wax. I am LOVING the finish that it gives the crib even if it is taking forever. The twins both took short naps (I'm blaming it on daylight savings) so I only got half of the crib finished. Hoping to finish the rest tonight as well as put a wash of paint on the pallet wall. 

Yay! The wall is done! Now time to paint, hang curtains and put the room back together. Don't mind my child's outfit. It was such a nice day that they napped with windows open in just their t-shirts. We added the boots in order to go play outside. Gigi bought the babies a bubble machine and OMG it kept them entertained for EVER. Another GREAT toy purchase! I wish I took some pictures of them playing but it's hard to take pics and keep them out of the road. We need one of those neon green slow-men to hang out at the front of our house. 

Someone (Holden) got a hold of mama's scissors and poked a hole in the screen. Daddy was not happy. Here he is showing me his uh oh. Love that cute pudgy hand though...

My mom took our family out to dinner at Harper's to celebrate Jay's birthday! He turned 29 on Sunday. This little girl is obsessed with these sunglasses. I am working on finding her a decent pair. The mismatched neon sides aren't really working with our style. The lady at Nordstrom chuckled at me when I asked if they had any baby ran bay aviators. 

we finished off the night with froyo to celebrate our favorite guy. I was such a slack wife and didn't even get him a card or make him his favorite dessert this year. I feel terrible that I really downplayed his birthday this year and will definitely be making it up with the big 3-0 next year! I'm planning to surprise him with my homemade key lime pie sometime this week.