Life Lately

We're still here! We've been spending lots of family time together. Daddy was off work for eleven days straight over Christmas and New Years. It was so much fun and we are really missing him here around the house! Not too much exciting to talk about though. So here are just some random updates and rambling.

Mason is officially walking! He can go all over the house. He does still crawl a lot, but his confidence in his walking abilities is getting better everyday and he thinks that it is a pretty fun transportation method!

We finally got to see the Singletary's again! (Lora, Mallory, Emma and Mason) They are dear friends who now live in Saudi Arabia and they were home for a couple weeks over Christmas. We sure do miss them! We enjoyed having them over for the Texas Tech bowl game and some pizza! (My kiddos are super at picture taking these days, can't you tell?)

Mason is still biting! Mal's poor little arm is covered in bruises and teeth marks. I am at a loss on this one. I have tried numerous things and nothing seems to work. Today I put the baby gate up in a secluded corner of the living room. I thought he might understand that he was being taken away from sister and his toys, but ummmm, yeah. The picture pretty much speaks for itself. He just stood there laughing at me until Mallory came over then they started playing peek-a-boo. Gggggggr! I have no clue...

Little sister has figured out this little slide that Gamaw got the twins for their birthday. She thinks she is such a big girl. It's just so cute.

And we have also established that she is going to be our "climber". (Great. I have a biter and a climber?) So today, I was in our room sending an email and came out to the living room to find this. Princess made her a nice little spot on the big people couch by using her chair as a ladder. Just chillin', chewing on her brush, and watching Nemo. Oh heavens.

I am starting the "Buggie Bathroom Redo". My first project of 2013. I am super excited. Currently their bathroom is a dark red with a gold and red shower curtain and rug. Pretty, but not at all child friendly. I have gutted the bathroom and its ready to be prepped for a fresh coat of pretty blue paint! In the meantime the babies are sure enjoying their bath time in Mommy and Daddy's BIG bathtub. :) (FYI, Santa put those little stars in their stockings. Coolest. Bath toy. Everrrr. It lights up blue and shoots water out of the middle like a fountain. And it's not a dinky fountain either. Sold at Target or HEB, best $8 Santa ever spent!)

What I have to do to vacuum the playroom. I know you were wondering. :)

After bath time a few nights ago, Mallory decided she was ready to let go and walk. She was determined. She was fearless. She made me so proud. But, she is still really bad at it! Ha! She face-planted into the wood floor bless her little soul. But it didn't stop her, she just kept trying and falling. Over and over. She has continued to have these moments of walking clarity each day. She just gets this look on her face and you know its coming. And then you throw every pillow and blanket within arms reach onto the floor around her. Haha. Sweet girl! She still loves to walk with this walker though.

My babies are models! Well, kind of. There is a fabulous lady in Lubbock who makes the most adorable bows and pillowcase dresses. She has a shop on etsy and asked me to photograph my sweets in her new dress and bow for use on her shop page. Of course Mal was super cooperative and smiled so sweetly, uh not. But we did manage to get a couple of precious pics. My favorite part was when no clothes-smushy diaper-baby belly hanging out-mini nilla wafer in hand Mason crawled onto the blanket for his turn in the spotlight! He is the best. ;) (Seriously, if you have a daughter check her out. She is amazing! http://www.etsy.com/shop/loveablebabyboutique)

We got to enjoy some time playing in the first snow of the year today! It didn't last near long enough if you ask me, but we took advantage of what little we got!

And because it is hilarious, my little man did this at his Gamaw's house the other night. Such a goof! :)

OYW

Another edition of One Year Wednesday: January 2nd, 2012.

I absolutely love these pictures. The babies were just starting to get chubby and this is so their personalities! I bought these outfits at Old Navy MONTHS before I was even pregnant! They were on clearance and I decided just to buy one of each gender to have and whichever one I didn't need I was going to give away! Looking back I think I just had a feeling we were going to be blessed with twins! ;) Ahhhhhh...

OYW

One year Wednesday post, on Thursday, because I was too excited yesterday about posting our Christmas pictures. Ha! And as it turns out, I didn't take any pictures on December 26th last year. WHAT? I went a whole day without photographing my children, shame on me! ;) So these precious iphone pictures are from December 27th, 2011...

Mallory and her Daddy snuggle bugging on his lunch break, love this.

Mason snoozing in his boppy, where the babies did a lot of their sleeping the first 4 months of their lives! :)

This Christmas

Merry Christmas! Hope your holiday was blessed and full of family and fun! We had a wonderful time celebrating this year. The fun started on Christmas Eve. Up until last year we have always spent Christmas Eve at my Grannies house. That is when we would open presents from her and my Papa with all of our cousins and extended family. It was a great tradition. This was the first year since my Grannie passed away so it was time to create new traditions. My parents were thrilled to have Christmas Eve festivities at their house for our family. We got to do presents with them as well as enjoy a delicious dinner of prime rib sliders, bacon wrapped asparagus, and cheesy potatoes. We missed Aunt Mami and Uncle Adam, they spent Christmas with his family this year. But we hope they get to join in on the new Christmas Eve events next year! The babies were very blessed by their Honey and Poppy. But, I think Dusty and I were even more spoiled. They did way too much of course but we are very appreciative and are just excited to enjoy all the fun with them. I loved everything but I am thrilled about my new Dooney and Bourke crossbody purse. That is all I carry now since I have no extra hands when out with the kids, and this one is by far my favorite one I own, as well as the only real purse I own. Super super excited! ;) Dusty got a sweet citizen watch that he is now obsessed with. The babies LOVE their new chairs. I adore them too, although they just look way to grown up in them! A couple (ha!) pictures from our Christmas Eve celebration...

Mal, Me, Honey, Maser, Poppy, and Dusty

Princess

Honey and Mallory Grace

Poppy and Mason Alan

Excited about books from Aunt Mami

Mason opening his books

Love, love, love our new chairs!

Mason was SO happy about his comfy big boy seat!

I just thought this was cute! Hehe, eating some Christmas cookies after dinner.

Our next celebration was Christmas morning as a family of 4 opening all the gifts that Santa brought. He was generous with lots of toys and great goodies. Dusty and I exchanged gifts as well. I got a beautiful new ring with the babies birthstones set in 2 hearts with their names engraved on each side of the band. It is so perfect! We enjoyed just loving on each other all morning, opening stockings, eating a family breakfast and playing.

Santa came...and my cutie with his bottle ;)

WOW Santa!!

Mallory displaying her excitement

Mommy helping with presents

Santa brought our elves for a little meet and greet before next year! A boy and a girl, perfect! :)

Then we went over to my Aunt Karen's house to have a lovely traditional Christmas lunch with my Dad's family. The babies got some wonderful gifts from Aunt Karen and she also spoiled us with some awesome goodies!

That afternoon we made our last stop at Gamaw and Papaw's house to enjoy a Christmas celebration with them, Aunt Sandy and Granny. The babies opened some generous gifts including an awesome play hut and tunnel contraption that they have been crawling through and hiding in all day! We all got so much good stuff from everyone and we are so blessed not only by the gifts, but by the company and fun we were able to enjoy together. Although, I am super excited about my cute camera strap cover and my new steam mop! ;) We enjoyed a tasty prime rib dinner there with green bean casserole and some excellent mashed potatoes. Best recipe ever! The babies did not nap well so our night had to end before our tradition of enjoying a few games with everyone, but it was still a perfect celebration with the fam!

The babies checking out the tree and presents

Opening our sit and spin, fun!

Mason and his CD player

I adore this picture, my happy girl loving on her Gamaw

She is such a Daddy's girl

Big boy helping Gamaw with the eggs, such concentration!

It is great to know that we will pass on so many traditions to the babies and we were so blessed by everyone this year. I know that all of this is in celebration of the birth of Jesus and the fact that God sent his only son to save the world. I think spending time with the families that He gave us, showing them His love for us and celebrating His birth through giving, and honoring traditions that instill a love for family is the perfect way to spend such an important day in our lives. I hope to teach this to the kids throughout the holidays in the years to come. It is certainly my favorite time of the year! 

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!

Worst Feeling

One of those days? Unfortunately yes. This morning I experienced one of my scarier moments since becoming a Mom. Don't worry, everyone is ok and for the most part unharmed.

I fainted while home alone with Mason. Yep, that fear that something will happen to me while I am at home with the kids (partly) came true.

There has been a nasty sinus, cold, or allergy fog looming over our household for most of the week. In these instances Dusty and I load up on vitamin C to try and combat whatever is invading. I was in the kitchen and had just mixed a powder pack of emergen-c with cold water. I am not particularly fond of the taste so I always chug it. Well apparently I tried to gulp too much too fast and ended up with horrible pains in my chest and lungs. I remember leaning forward onto the counter and the next thing I know I woke up on the floor. It took me a little bit to reorient myself and I panicked the minute I realized that Dusty had just left with Mallory to go the grocery store and I was home alone with Mason. I had no concept of how long I had been unconscious. I ran to the living room to find him sitting in the same spot, eating his waffle wheel, playing with a plastic children's hanger, watching Alvin and the chipmunks on tv. After a peek at the clock I determined I was out only a matter of seconds. I called Dusty in tears and made him come home. My next fear was I landed on the tile floor along with my glass. I was pale and had orange drink all in my hair and all over my clothes. My neck was sore and I must have hit the inside of my left knee because it has a small bruise. But I was shocked when I felt my head and couldn't find one bump or sore spot. Thankful that it was not worse as the fainting itself is not usually harmful, it's the injuries associated with the fall that can be bad.

After some water and rest I started feeling better. A little research basically revealed that gulping as I did can sometimes restrict the throat passages triggering a nerve near the carotid artery which drops the blood pressure too low and cuts the blood supply to the brain, leading to loss of consciousness. Sounds serious but its really not. Swallow syncope as its termed is rare but does happen, most often with cold and carbonated beverages. Strange huh!

I will admit I have a bad history of fainting. I have a very low pain tolerance and have passed out more times than I can count because of minor injuries or fear of pain. It started when I was a child and has unfortunately continued into adulthood. This instance however was MUCH different. I usually blackout and my hearing gets muffled when I am going to pass out. This gives me a couple seconds to quickly lay down to avoid fall injuries, a concept I could not grasp as a child. But this time, I had no warning. I went from completely alert to fully unconscious in less than one second. That's why I am certain it was a result of however funky way I managed to swallow. Gosh, it really seems so silly. I am sure I will laugh about it eventually.

Although we are certain I may have a very minor concussion because I was nauseous and foggy most of the day, I am happy to report that I am feeling 100% this evening. Thank you Lord for sending your angels to watch over me and my kiddo. I know it could have been much worse but am just thankful we are all ok! It sure did get me thinking about my daily check in plan with my husband though!! I am not a fan of these scary moments and hope its the last time I have that feeling ever!!

Happy Friday

We sure enjoy our Fridays. Dusty only works until noon each Friday so we usually get to enjoy a nice family afternoon. Today we had lunch at Rosa's and then picked Granny up for a little fun at a park we have never taken the kids to before. It was breezy so our trip only lasted about 30 minutes but there was only one other child there so it was very enjoyable. The babies always love to swing and Mallory was thrilled about the slide. Mason had a blast walking with my help all over the big playset. It was a fun way to spend their 13 month birthday. Hope your Friday was happy as well!