Bye-Bye Bottles

Well, kinda of. Today is the day I am going to throw out our Born Free bottles. They have served us well and now I just have to work up the nerve to actually put them in the garbage can. They all leak and over Christmas Bruce and I decided to just buy a new bottle for baby S. Because she's still nursing, Sullivan only gets a bottle a couple times a week when we're at home; we really only need one good one that doesn't leak on everything and everyone. On top of that, in another six weeks our family will be bottle-free for good and we don't need bags and bags of bottles, nipples, lids, etc. in our cabinets. It just makes me sad though. These are the same bottles we fed O and K with and if my math is right (averaging five feeds per baby a day, 10 total a day), over the course of a year, we fed our babies approximately 3,650 times with these bottles. That's not including the bottles given to Sullivan either. Talk about the end of an era! A completely bottle-free household? My babies really are growing up too fast!

Happy Birthday Owen and Kathryn

Happy Birthday Owen and Kathryn! Our babies are two years old today. How is that possible? We had their birthday party on Sunday and even though the snow and ice kept a few people away, we partied on. I thought it was pretty special that they had a white Christmas and a white birthday! Owen and Kathryn's party had a barnyard theme, so I made chili and cornbread and our favorite bakery here in Huntsville made the most adorable cow cake ever. O and K opened lots of wonderful presents and were obsessed with the little four wheelers Grandmama and Pops bought them; those will provide hours and hours of entertainment once we're back home.

It seems like yesterday that we were driving to the hospital to deliver our twins. I'm just amazed that their first two years have flown by so quickly - my babies aren't really babies anymore. But like any mom will tell you, they will always be my babies no matter how big or old they get! Bruce and I are looking forward to their third year and the big things this year will bring for them...big kid beds, potty training, maybe even preschool or a mother's day out program later in the year. Happy birthday my angels! Thank you for all of your sweet kisses, hugs, words and laughter. We love learning and growing with you.

The birthday cake - isn't it adorable? Cakes etc. did such a great job!

Buggy's turn to the blow out the candles. We've been practicing this for months - I sing "Happy Birthday" and then hold up two pretend candles and the kids would blow them out. All the practice paid off.

Your turn Owie!

Mommy and the birthday boy.

Our little family.

Great-Granddaddy Wilhite and Sullivan. It was a special day because this was the first time he'd seen Sullivan.

Uncle Scott and Aunt Maegen.

Sullivan with her great-grandmother (whom she's named after) and her great-aunt Paula.

Joey and my sweet grandparents

Family photo op! I thought I had one of Bruce's side too, but we took that one with Grandmama's camera.

Great-Granddaddy Strickland, Great-Grandmother Strickland, Great-Granddaddy Wilhite and Pops. Aren't the babies lucky to have grandparents and great-grandparents at their party?

Poppie and Owie. This is Owen's new "thinking" face.

Grandmama and the girls

Girls Only

This week my Mom, Kathryn and I took a girls-only trip to Nashville. We stayed at the Opryland Hotel (only the greatest place on earth this time of year!) and had sooo much fun. We really wanted to take Sullivan, but thought we should wait another year until she can walk, talk and enjoy it the way Kathryn did. We left the boys behind to fend for themselves and take care of Sullivan and Owen hit the road. The hotel has every Christmas activity you can imagine, but Mom and I agreed to do three things. We took K to ride the kids' Christmas train (she loves trains), took a boat ride down the hotel's "river" and watched the Rock-a-Billy Christmas show after dinner the first night. The second night we went to an amazing restaurant called EllenDale's - our server was really accommodating and came up with a few different creations for Kathryn since they didn't have a children's menu. It isn't really a kiddo kind of restaurant, but we ate early and it worked out perfectly. We walked all over the hotel to take pictures, shopped for ornaments and souvenirs for Owen and Sullivan, ate cookies, ordered room service, and even took a nap. It was a great get-a-way for us girls and put us in a Christmas-kind of mood!

Mommy and Bug - I think we kind of favor in this picture. What do you think?

K got a kick out of these horsies.

Nothing says Christmas like a giant tree made of poinsettias!

Isn't the hotel gorgeous?

The Christmas train in the hotel

The restaurant we ate at the first night.

The view from our room - Kathryn loved the balloons.

Mimi and Bug taking a little break after shopping. I guess cheese is the perfect post-shopping trip snack.

Bug had no problem settling into the hotel room!

Mom and Bug along the riverwalk in the hotel.

Blogging From The Road

Today's post comes from the road. We are on our way "home" to Huntsville to visit our families for Christmas. This post is more for me today than anyone else, so I apologize if it's not that exciting; I just really wanted to "jot" down my thoughts before we get home and get swept up in all the excitement and I never get around to this.

We just stopped for lunch and as we were sitting in Wendy's sharing nuggets, chili and baked potatoes, it dawned on me that this was the exact scenario I desperately tried to envision this time last year. I was eight months pregnant with Sullivan and the babies were about to turn one. So much was unknown, so much was wonderful, so much was exhausting. I had a pretty good idea what life would be like with twin two year olds, but I had no idea what life would be like with twin two years olds and a 10 month old. Now we know and today provided me with what will surely be one of my favorite travel memories.

This will probably be the last time we pack up and go home for weeks to celebrate Christmas. Bruce and I both feel that after this year it will be important for the kids to wake up in their home to see what Santa brought them. We were lucky enough to have that growing up and we want the same for Owen, Kathryn and Sullivan. Travel days (and the prep days that precede a travel day) are always crazy. That being said, I have made it a point to enjoy today, because I know trips like this one are numbered. We'll be leaving Biloxi in the next six months, give or take a month or two on either side, and although we don't know where we're going yet, this year has taught me it will all be okay. So here we are again...so much is unknown, so much is wonderful, so much is exhausting. Some things are certain though - our little family will share some nuggets along the way and enjoy each stage, each place and appreciate the excitement and unknown we get to experience together.

To my husband and babies - I cherish days like today more than you could possibly imagine. I'm so blessed to be able to travel with all of you!

Teamwork

Most days I find myself playing referee and saying things like "Owen, don't bite Kathryn" and "Kathryn give Monkey back to Owen" or "Please share!" Although I know Kathryn and Owen really do love each other, they do a fine job of pestering each other on a regular basis. Every now and then though they do something like this and it just makes me smile. It got kind of quiet (always a red flag!) this morning so I came out of the kitchen to find Owen riding on the back of the walker. Kathryn was "driving" him all around the living room and they were both having a ball. Talk about teamwork! And just so you'll know, I didn't put Kathryn in Sullivan's walker; they can both get themselves in and out any time they feel like it. Oh the fun (and the worry) never ends!