William & Henry Turn ONE!

On June 16th our perfect little boys turned one.  Many people comment to me about how hard twins must be and if I can survive the first year, I can survive anything.  I certainly see the truth in that and honestly feel like the last year was mostly a blur.  A blur that left me happier, and more exhausted, than I ever could have imagined.  I had a lot of anxiety during my pregnancy with the twins, worrying about everything from the difficulties of a multiples pregnancy to the challenge of managing three children born within less than two years.  How will I grocery shop? Will I ever get sleep?  How do I take care of all three at the same time?  The questions are never ending and always evolving.  BUT.  While it has been crazy, it has been more lovely than I ever could have hoped.  The pride I feel when I look at my family is the most rewarding thing in my life and I express gratitude every day that these are my children and I have the gift of being their mother.

Back to their actual birthday.  We jam packed their birthday with all their favorites, starting with their first donut for breakfast, and then a few presents. 

 

After the twins woke up from the morning nap my mom came over and we took the children to Washington Park to play and have lunch.  Reese and William had a blast and Henry eventually warmed up to the water.  It is so fun seeing the beginnings of the relationships with one another emerge and watching them become true friends. 

 

 

One thing I have learned in my nearly three years as a mom is to quit while you're ahead, which is exactly what we did. We made it home in time for afternoon naps and Tom surprised the kids by leaving work early.  We treated the children to Alagamesis Ice Cream and a stroll through the toy store.  Alagamesis is a special place for us; we used to take Gouda there and also took Reese for her first ice cream when she turned one.  It was only fitting Henry and William got to try it as well!

Turns out, they weren't too impressed with chocolate ice cream 😀

Happy Birthday to the dynamic duo!  You keep me on my toes in the most wonderful way and you are so, so loved.  I hope you had the best day. 

Happy 4th Birthday Lily!

Two weeks ago our sweet Lily turned 4!  It's hard to believe she wasn't even 2 when we rescued her, yet it feels like she's been a part of our family forever.  When Gouda turned 2 we started a family tradition of steaks to celebrate dog birthdays and anniversaries, which we have continued to this day.  It may seem silly to some but our dog will always be a part of our family and we want them to feel celebrated as such.  Tom picked up steaks from the butcher Saturday afternoon, I was in charge of the sides, and we ate early enough for R to join us.  Lily inhaled her steak in record time and enjoyed licking everyone's plates.   I really live for these little family dinners. 

After we lost Gouda Lily mourned for quite awhile, right along with the rest of us.  Until then she had never been the only dog in her home so it took some adjusting for her.  Since then she's really come into her own as "the dog" in the home and I think she's doing a great job.  She puffs her chest when anyone comes to the door and eagerly intercepts anyone stopping to say hi to R on our walks. 

Lily is a wonderful dog mama to R and they really have become best friends.  R becomes giddy with excitement whenever she hears the tags on Lily's collar shake in the next room.  She proudly points to Lily and exclaims "doggy!" as soon as she sees her.  R routinely sneaks snacks to Lily which is a daily struggle.  I love watching their friendship develop and get a total kick out of their interactions.

Happy 4th Birthday to our sweet, patient, and WILD Lily!  We love you so much and here's to many, many more birthday steaks.

Fall 2014

We have been having a fantastic fall season, and as with most things, it is so much more fun to experience with a toddler.  We have been enjoying the mild weather and keeping busy with story time at the bookstore, library babies class, date nights, lots of park time, and all the other not as fun stuff, like working, keeping up our home and hitting the gym (well that last one isn't so bad!).  We rounded out the fall season with a trip to Keeneland and I'm officially ready for the holiday season.
Some pics of what we've been up to!

Over the last couple of months I have really been getting into spinning and have worked out a nice schedule (with the help of Tom) to attend classes a few times a week that minimizes my time away from R.  I really hope it is something that I can continue to prioritize.

Now...who's ready for Thanksgiving?!

Folly Beach and Charleston, South Carolina

Last week Reese and I had the opportunity to skip town for a few days and join my in-laws for a mini getaway to South Carolina.  Unfortunately this is a very busy time for Tom at work so he was unable to join.  I was a bit nervous about taking a 13 month old on her first flight alone, but she did just great.  I spent an embarrassing amount of time reading tips and tricks for traveling with a toddler to make sure I was as prepared as I could be and it was as easy on Reese as possible.  Overall, aside from Delta continuing to be my least favorite airline, everything went as smoothly as I could have hoped for.

Ergo carrier and golfish...required for a successful jaunt through security.

 While the mini and I flew, my in-laws drove down separately (I drew the line at a 10 hour car ride with my car seat detesting child...no fun for anyone) and they were able to take the car seat and a few other items that were too big of a pain to travel with.  This helped immensely!!  Our condo was in Folly Beach, about 20 minutes outside of Charleston.  I had never been to the area before and just loved it.  Here are some pictures from our travels, if you'd like to see.

Early morning walk on the pier...perks to traveling with children is you're up for the sun rise!

Our morning coffee stop...Black Magic

If you're ever in Folly go to Taco Boy...and eat ALL the tacos!  I heard their margs were worth writing home about too.

One thing I have learned in my 13 months as a parent is that whatever expectations you have, just throw them out the window.  I really thought Reese would go nuts over the beach considering how much she loves anything having to do with water.  So as soon as she woke up on our first morning we made our way to a foggy and windy beach for a little picnic breakfast (Lara bar and banana...so fancy!).   I carried Reese along the sand and stopped to lower her feet.  No go.  She practically hiked her little knees up to her ears.  This shouldn't be too surprising considering her love/hate relationship with grass but it was entertaining at least.  She had a similar sentiment toward the ocean....no thanks guys.   But as long as she could admire it safely perched in her mama's arms she did just fine!

                  

Not one to be deterred (all I wanted was ONE picture of my baby enjoying the beach), we headed back to the beach on our last morning, determined to get a few good pics on the beach.  At least I can say I got a few and she seemed to tolerate it (maybe even enjoy it?) a bit more.

my sweet girl

The rest of our brief trip was spent eating seafood, taking long walks, going for dips in the pool, and doing a little shopping and sightseeing in Charleston.  I haven't been one to mess with our daily routine too much (hello....first time mom) but I was so proud of Reese and how she just rolled with it every day.  She handled restaurants as well as could be expected and overall continued to be nothing but a joy.   Although we only spent a day in Charleston I would absolutely love to go back with Tom and spend some time there.  I feel like most of my time and attention was keeping my toddler entertained/safe/fed/happy/cool/contained, etc...so I didn't get to absorb too much of the city...not to mention it was crazy hot and crowded.  Charleston is definitely on my list of cities to visit again after this.

collage images via

One lesson learned on this trip was that a vacation with a toddler is not actually a vacation...who knew?!   All kidding aside, we missed Tom like crazy and although we enjoyed the new experience we were happy to be home.  Not happy to have brought a cold back with us, but what can you do.

One thing I will definitely do differently next time is take a buffer day off in between travel and going back to work.  We got home Wednesday night just in time to hug Tom and put the munchkin to bed and the sitter came bright and early the next day so I could go to work.  Not my best idea, but it was the only way I could fit it all in.  Now where to go on our next adventure?