Practice makes perfect

Here we are, five days away from Abby's 4th birthday and she is ready for what she has called her "practice birthday" all day! Since her birthday doesn't fall on a weekend this year, we are did a little bit of the partying early! This morning, Papa Doc and Gramercy stayed at home with Reagan and Blaire while we went and took Abby to get her ears pierced! Yep, you heard right...her ears pierced! She started talking about that a few months ago and we decided that she was old enough to get it done. (Although her earrings stay in our bathroom and she knows she can't take them out - after the initial ones can come out that is - unless we are with her.) She was such a rock star during the piercing...no major tears, fussing or complaining. She said that her ears hurt for a little while but less than an hour after the piercing, she told Eric "My ears don't hurt anymore at all!" She was all smiles! Since the piercing store was in the Mall where her favorite merry-go-round is, she got four rides (in honor of turning four)...the reindeer, the white horse, the elephant and the dragon! After a nap on the ride home, we all got into our party clothes and headed to Abby's favorite restaurant, Santa Fe (where you throw peanuts on the floor!). There were several of our close friend and family there joining us - 20 in all - and we had a wonderful dinner which included a big YEE HAW from the wait staff bringing birthday wishes and dirt cake! Then we headed back home where the birthday girl got a slew of presents and after partying the night away (she got to stay awake an hour longer than normal) she went to bed one happy soon-to-be four year old!

This old house

When we made the decision last year to put our old house on the market, we decided to speak first with Eric's younger brother, Aaron, about buying the house. Since he and his fiance, Jenifer, will be getting married this year, they were looking for a place to buy to make their first home together. We spoke to the two of them and found out they were interested....a little over four months later we sold them the house and we moved out. Tonight we were invited back to see the house (they've painted and put down some floors and carpet) and have some dinner with them. We offered to bring dessert and surprisingly, Abby kept our dessert a secret until the big reveal and the dinner table - make your own (indoor) Smores! It was so much fun...topped off a great day and night!

Enough is enough

NO MORE PICTURES,
GOT IT?

You can't handle the tooth!

One word describes this past week: teething. And it's doubled in this house...double the set of teeth, double the teething pains, double the gnawing on any and everything, double the screams, double the trouble for sure! As Abby hears all her stories from friends that are losing their teeth, we are sitting her waiting for Blaire and Reagan's teeth to come through. Right now you can feel the buds in their gums and even see some white starting to peer through the gums. The girls are just not happy campers about this either. We have tried everything from cooling agents, to toys, to teethers, to warming cloths, and even resorted today to peeled carrots. Unfortunately nothing has given them much relief. Hopefully this too shall pass.

Helping Hands

A couple of months ago, I shared with you a story about how God blessed my day with three stuffed animals...who coincidentally, have become part of the family - Turtle, Ah-choo and Ah-gee. Well, we get a ton of help in other forms as well...our favorite in particular comes in a package that is almost 4 years old, weighs almost 40 pounds and is full of love, laughter and life.

"God likes help when helping people."
(Irish Proverb)

This week: Brought to you by the letter "S"

S stands for Snow -
The snow that south Alabama never got, although this past Sunday night it started sleeting (for 10 minutes) and all the schools, state offices, businesses, etc. closed. Surprisingly, there was still bread, eggs and milk at the grocery store - and thankfully, there was baby formula!

S stands for Secretaries -
The secretaries that came through for us a million times over when work had to be done this week and there were babies that need cuddling! Thanks a million to K and T!

S stands for Sickness -
The sickness that we just can't shake! Starting December 26th, someone has been sick in this house about every day...this past week, the stomach bug hit and hit hard...Mommy went down. And when Mommy's not happy, no one's happy!

S stands for Slumber party -
The slumber party that Abby took this past week to her Nana and Papa's house since (a) Barbara couldn't even get out of the bed (b) Eric was up to his elbows in babies and (c) a curious, fun, inquisitive, on-the-go toddler does not mix with the first two reasons, ha!

S stands for Slacker -
The slacker that writes the blog defers to the third "S" definition in case you were wondering.

A Dedication to Remember

Today was a very special day in our family - it was the baby dedications of Blaire and Reagan. Family and friends were invited to join us at 4 PM at our church, Providence Baptist Church, where the ceremony and reception took place. A baby dedication is a ceremony in which believing parents, and in our case our church family as well, make a commitment before the Lord to submit a child (or two - ha!) to God's will and to raise that child according to God's Word and God's ways. Today, as Christian parents, we made a promise to our Lord to do everything within our power to raise our precious girls in a godly way and not according to our own ways. It was a very special moment for us and we thank everyone that celebrated the day with us whether it was by your presence, your presents, your help, your prayers or your well wishes.





PS - For those of you that have asked, yes, I do have pictures of the ceremony and reception. As soon as I can, I'll attach a slide show to this post.

Happy Wife, Happy Life

Today we celebrated our six year anniversary! Six years ago we got all dolled up, headed to the church and at half past five p.m., we met at the end of the aisle and held hands before all of our friends and family promising to love each other til death do us part...six down, forever to go!

And just in case you didn't know, we share a lot in our marriage - responsibility, blame, parenting, and humor...oh, and maybe some arguments:

Shoot me

Today we were back at the pediatrician's office. Knock on wood, the twins haven't gotten any of the germs that we've had all over our house now for over a week. With all the rest of us still coughing and feeling a little cruddy, Reagan and Blaire were just going for another one of their monthly Synergis shots. This was their fourth shot out of the six shots they will get. Dr. Mac said they were looking great!! Right now their weights are doing pretty good as well: Reagan - 14 pounds, 15 ounces; Blaire - 15 pounds, 15 ounces. They are still no where near their birth age weight/height, but for corrected age, they are doing OK...still a bit on the small side but we are thrilled with the growth they are showing each month. At today's appointment, Dr. Mac suggested they both get a flu shot as well - with it running rampant around our hometown (and possibly our house), we agreed. The girls did NOT like that idea at all...it was the worst shot appointment they've had since birth. Poor girls. But, for a reward, they got to hang out with one of our BFFS (Ms. Veda) and go to California Yogurt Kraze. Alright, alright, really that was a reward for the rest of us but it was a great way to end the day...the Wade women and the Godwin women out on the town! Made a rough doctor's appointment completely worth it!

Boom Boom Pow

Well, last night we rung in the new year in style....well, some sort of style. Eric is still sick so the Wade Women packed up and headed out - leaving him with some peace and quiet. We headed out for some dinner, fun and fireworks at our friend's (the Sconyers) house. It was awesome! Lots of fun all night long...we hung out by the bonfire, watched some awesome fireworks all throughout the night, enjoyed some BBQ and nacho dinner, watched some TV, played with kiddos, laughed with adults - everything that bringing in a New Year requires, ha! But, we actually didn't stay til midnight. A little after 10 PM we headed home and got into our comfy PJs to watch the NYC Ball Drop for New Year's Eve. Eric was in and out of it upstairs so we had a girls only slumber party in our master bedroom. All four of us were awake to see the ball drop, give each other New Year's kisses and then sleep all night long! Love love love! With the exception of not being able to celebrate it as an entire family, that is healthy that is, it was a great night. Our wish for 2011 is health, wealth and happiness....but for now, we'd settle for just health, ha!