T minus 30 days til we get our Hip Hop on! In case you don't know, welove Easter time...the wonderful Bible stories, the holiday activities and yes, even the Easter candy (Come on, who doesn't love a good Reeses Peanut Butter egg? Ha!). Starting today, we're about a month out and we plan to spend the next few weeks celebrating this wonderful time of year!!!!
A special shout out to our friends Donna and Chet who allowed us to come and borrow their backyard and their "beloved" Rosie for a fun photo shoot!
And another special shout out to our good friend, Angie, and her business The Hope Chest for the girls super adorable Easter shirts!
Yes, yes we know - babies all grow and develop at different ages. It was one of the most frustrating things when Abby was first born when someone would ask "Is she walking yet?" - even as early as 5 months they were asking! Abby never crawled on all 4s and she wasn't walking until well after turning one year old. So, we've learned not to worry about what someone says or thinks about a milestone any of children may or may not have met. But with that being said, we do have a mental checklist that we think about in terms of their development. Here's a few milestones to consider about the twins.
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Milestones for a 7 month old (their corrected/adjusted age). This is where we look at the girls in terms of their development...their corrected age. So, even though they are 10 months of age, because of their preemie status, you look at the milestone for 7 months, such as:
-They SHOULD be able to: (1) Feed themselves a cracker: Check (2) Make razzing sounds: Check (3) Coo or babble when happy: Check (4) Smile when interacting with someone: Check
-They WILL PROBABLY be able to: (1) Sit without support: Check...both did this about a week or two ago and are growing stronger and stronger each day when we work on this (2) Bear some weight on legs when standing: Check (3) Work to get a toy that's out of reach: Check (4) Look for a dropped object: Check (5) Turn in direction of a voice: Check (6) Play peek-a-boo: Check
-They MAY POSSIBLY be able to: (1) Creep or crawl: The girls scoot in circles and around the floor...you can put them on the floor on one end of the den and in less than 5 minutes they are at the other end. But no crawling yet. However, Blaire can get up on all fours and will be crawling soon! (2) Pass on object from one hand to another: Check (3) Stand holding on to something: Some-what check. They can do this for very brief periods. But we're working on it!
-They MAY EVEN be able to: (1) Pull up to a standing position from sitting: Not yet (2) Move from a stomach position to sitting without help: Not even close, ha! (3) Pick up tiny objects with fingers: Yes (4) Say certain words: Yes! Blaire now says "Daddy" and "Hey" (which is hysterically funny when she says it to her reflection!), Reagan not says "Daddy" (5) Have teeth: Yes...Reagan has 1, Blaire has 2
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Milestones for a 10 month old (their real/birth age). in comparison to the milestones for the corrected age...here are examples of a non-preemie 10 month old's milestones and how the twins may or may not have reached the same - remember that these are in addition to the above as well as a lot of other 8-9 month milestones:
-They SHOULD be able to: (1) Stand when holding on to someone or something: Some-what check. They can stand with assistance for short, very short, periods of time. (2) Exchange back and forth gestures with you: Eh, not really. We are working on them holding up their arms when we take them from a bouncy seat or high chair. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
-They WILL PROBABLY be able to: (1) Walk while holding onto furniture: No (2) Understand "NO": Um, no. Ha ha. In fact, we are still working on getting our 4 year old to master this development! (3) Get into sitting position from stomach: No
-They MAY POSSIBLY be able to: (1) Stand alone momentarily: No (2) Say "Daddy" or"Mommy": Yes (3) Point to something they need to want: Some-what. They will look for something and grab for it. Or grab for their bottles.
-They MAY EVEN be able to: (1) Indicate what they want without crying: No (2) "Play Ball" (rolling a ball back and forth with you): No (3) Drink from a cup: We've introduced Sippy Cups in the last month or so. Reagan's all for it, Blaire isn't. We still haven't found the "perfect cup" for them, ha! And they aren't holding their bottles on their own yet. They are trying but they are not there yet. (4) Say a word other than Daddy or Mommy: Yes (5) Walk well: No
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After seeing Abby work out things on her own timeline, we know that Reagan and Blaire will do the same thing. What happens happens and we are ready for anything! Here are a couple of pics of the girls and what they love showing off what they can do!
Reagan: Sitting alone and standing
Blaire: Sitting alone and up on all fours ready to crawl
**The milestones from above are from the book "What To Expect The First Year" by H. Murkoff, A. Eisenberg, and S. Hathaway.
Although they are only 10 months old, the twins get school sessions all throughout the week. Some days they get stories on colors, some days we talk about letters, sometimes it's Bible studies and other times it is just super fun crafts! And we are never short for teachers around here. The twins' favorite teacher knows just how to get on their level and make learning fun! This morning Abby spent some time with the girls going through colors and music!
"Learning is finding out what you already know, Doing is demonstrating that you know it, Teaching is reminding others that they know it as well as you do. We are all learners, doers, and teachers." (R. D. Bach)
Abby's been waiting for this day for about a week - a golf date with her Daddy! He told her last week that since the time has changed, they might be able to go out some afternoons when he gets home from work and play a round. She was ecstatic and asked almost every day when she was going to go golf. Eric got home from work about 4:30 and the two of them headed out. Although Abby got her golf clubs before she decided to be left handed, she tries, ha! And she has a ball doing it, especially if it means a date with her main man!
For the past couple of weeks, we've been experimenting with the twins' hair dos. There's not that much hair so the experiments haven't gone to well, ha! But then, the easiest (and by that I mean the softest - so babies aren't screaming bloody murder when you try to pull some hair back!) pony tails were found and bam bam - or should I say Pebbles! LOL!
If there's one thing Abby loves, it's a good "slumber party!" Although she loves for people to spend the night with her (or even have her own little slumber party in Mommy and Daddy's bed - ha!), she is all for going to other people's houses for the night! Two weeks ago, on the way to taking "A" (her uncle, Aaron) to the church for his wedding, Abby brought up the subject of spending the night at A's house (our old house). The day for the slumber party has come and she is super excited. She helped pick out her clothes and PJs for the night, pack her bag and close up her pillow pet. About an hour or so ago, A came to pick her up - she was literally waiting outside by the front door for him! Sounds like tonight's agenda includes Pizza Kastle (one of Abby's favorite places in Dothan) and sleeping in her old bedroom! We know she will have a blast tonight at her slumber party but it's already too quiet around our house!
This morning Abby's school hosted a SAFETY DAY for the students. It was a time for them to check out a fire truck, an ambulance and a police car - as well as ask the operators any questions about safety. We got all three girls dressed up and headed out to the school. First up, the fire truck - it took a little bit of coaxing by Fireman Jeff, but soon Abby was crawling all around the truck and even sitting in the front ready to sound the siren. Next was the ambulance. Abby got a real kick out of finally understanding "what Mommy and the babies rode in to Pensacola" last year. She got her vital signs taken, talked to a couple of EMTs and even got to use their CB to call out for cars to get out of the way for the fast ambulance, ha! The last vehicle visit was with Officer Seth and the police car. There's just something about seeing your daughter in the back seat of a cop car to make your heart stop a bit. As a close friend said the other day, we hope it's the only time we see Abby in the back of a police cruiser, ha! After Safety Day, we headed out to lunch with the Millers and Slagels....to one of our favorite places - Myoris! Yummy! Although true to form, Abby hid in the corner whenever there was fire on the hibachi in front of us. But, we all had a great time with the food and fun so that's all that really mattered! After lunch we headed home for some much needed naps because a big night was planned....St. Pat's Day party and the Hovi house!!! Their first annual SPD party was a big success and we all had a great time...from green drinks, to green food to friends all decked out in green attire, it was awesome! Thanks Donna and Chet for a fun night!
Less than a week after her baby sister started talking, Reagan decided she was not to be outdone...she has started talking too! Here's a little conversation heard in the Wade household this morning:
Barbara: (After waking up, feeding babies and bringing them downstairs for playtime) Eric, I may be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure when I was changing Reagan's diaper she was saying Daddy. Eric: (With a *slight* grin on his face) Yeah, I heard it last night but I wasn't going to say anything to you. Barbara: So out of our three kids, two of them said "Daddy" for their first word? Eric: (With a *slightly* larger grin on his face) Yeah. Barbara: Well, the next words out of their mouth better be Mommy.... (turning to Blaire now) Mommy. Mommy. Mommy.
It's not easy being green - but it sure is fun to eat things that are green! Ok, ok, maybe only on St. Patrick's Day, LOL! Today, being the third Thursday of the month, meant dinner with Aaron and Jenifer (the newlyweds!). We headed over to their house and enjoyed green egg casserole, green waffles, grits, bacon and some green shamrocks (Rice Krispie treat style) for dessert!
After being a Kangaroo, a Bunny, a Tiger and a Duck, it is soon time for Abby to say goodbye to her friends and teachers at FUMC (Enterprise). Starting this August, Abby will be attending preschool at Ms. Eloise's here in Enterprise - in fact, it's only 4 minutes away from our house! Ms. Eloise's preschool takes only 30 students each year (Abby got her name on the list 2 weeks after she was born - yep, back in 2007 - apparently getting into preschool really is that crazy!). The students are divided into two groups and go back and forth between Ms. Ramona and Ms. Meloni. (The daughter and daughter in law of Ms. Eloise who has since passed away.) We had heard nothing but great reviews of the school and after today, we completely agree! This morning was the day that Abby had to to for her registration and preview. It was awesome! After being a bit worried about how she would react to a new place and new teachers, it took less than 1 minute for her to be talking to the teachers, showing how she can already write her name/add/subtract/color, asking about the field trips and begging to go out to the playground! Starting in August, Abby will be going to Ms. Eloise's every day, Monday through Friday, from 8 AM to Noon. We are all completely happy and very excited about this new adventure!
A special shout out to Aunt Carol for coming over to the house and hanging out with Reagan and Blaire today while Abby got some much needed solo attention! There was no way we could have made today possible with two little ones in tow and we are extremely thankful to her! Thanks Aunt Carol!
Today the twins turned TEN MONTHS old! We are so unbelievably blessed with their lives, health and happiness! Happy 10 month birthday girls! We love you! (Blaire and Reagan)
-Blaire started talking this weekend. Her first word was... drum roll please ...."DADDY!" Eric heard it once on Saturday afternoon but then today she was saying it over and over! She is completely the talker of the two and it was awesome to see her not only saying something, but saying two syllables and putting the word and the meaning together! And how fitting is it that Blaire, who looks like the spitting image of Eric, said "Daddy" for her first word? Ha ha! -Blaire also is now the proud owner of her first two teeth! Today, both of her two middle bottom teeth came through the gums. Chomp on, Blaire, chomp on!
REAGAN'S NEWS
-After weeks of trying to accomplish the "baby impossible" (a.k.a. finding the perfect teething ring), Reagan hit a groove with her teether and started drooling 90 to nothing. We knew it was only a matter of days before her teeth started coming through her gums. Early this morning the teeth had not broken through, but right after lunch there was a tooth!!!! It might be only her first pearly white, but it was a great sight to see!!!
After heading to church as a family this morning, we came home to enjoy a yummy pot roast lunch around the kitchen table. When you have three kiddos, the absolute hardest day of the week happens to be Sunday. Now we aren't saying that we can't, and don't, get through those days, but our schedule that we've kept for the last six days goes right out the window when you get to Sunday. We learned this the hard way with Abby about four years ago and it doesn't get any easier when you add two infants to the mix. But, to combat the fussiness, whining and today's added little bonus of the time change, we decided to chill at home for lunch and not worry about the afternoon. As soon as we got home, Eric took the babies up to their cribs for their much needed (and wanted) nap and I got to work on lunch's side dishes. We told Abby that she had about 10 minutes to play upstairs before we were going to call her back down for lunch. When lunch was ready, Abby headed down and that's when we realized, she must have enjoyed the idea of lunch at home too because she completely dressed for the occasion:
Although a few of us in this house are a bit older than others, we found out today that no matter what age you are, you can still learn valuable life lessons. Today, there were more than a few lessons learned the hard way:
Lesson #1 When you tell your 4 year old daughter (the night before) that "Saturday's the day you get to take out your earrings and put in new ones!", rest assured that she will be by your bed side at 6 AM waking you up by asking "It's Saturday - can we put in other earrings now?" (The old earrings...the new earrings)
Lesson #2 While grocery shopping at the local Walmart, don't ever say "Wow, we didn't run into anyone we knew" until you are officially in your car and driving out of the parking lot. After managing to do the shopping in less than 30 mins, we were thrilled to be on the way out the door and then ran into 6 different people we knew and talked almost an hour.
Lesson #3 When you punk a new sister-in-law upon her and your brother's return from their honeymoon, be prepared for payback. Today, Aaron and Jenifer returned home from their honeymoon to find a few pranks had been pulled on them...and we're not giving away all our secrets because the final pranks have still yet to be found!!!
Lesson #4 When attending any party or shower (in particular - TWO different baby showers on the same day) try not to take almost 60 pictures without any of them being of the Mommies-to-Be! (Although on a little side note - Congrats to Jamie/Aaron and Loren/Chad...we had a great time at your showers today and love love love you all! Can't wait to meet Little Miss Adelei as well as Brigham and Baylor!)
Lesson #5 When you plan to roll around in the grass, don't wear white capri pants.
Lesson #6 Always plan to roll around in the grass! LOL!
Although the winds and rain that were actually supposed to start last night didn't, we woke up to a dreary morning here in Enterprise. After getting up and ready for the day, the weather reports started coming in about tornado watches and warnings. About 10 AM, we packed up our "tornado box" (full of diapers, wipes, clothes, toys, books, blankets, pillows and food) and headed to the master closet. During the next hour we found ourselves doing a bunch of playing while the heavy winds were going around our house. It was very creepy at times - especially when Abby realized that she could hear the wind and the howling even though we were in the closet. When we first got into the closet, I said a prayer asking God to keep us safe during this storm. Well, when Abby heard the weather hitting, she came over to me and said "Mommy, I'm gonna pray too so close your eyes." And then she sat down, put her head in her lap and said "Dear God, Please keep us safe from this tornado. I don't like this tornado. I don't like thunder either. Please tell your angels to stop bowling. And bless the food to our bodies. Amen." So, as you can tell, even though we were a bit scared and nervous, we were safe and clearly enjoying ourselves during the storm. Thankfully, we endured no damage during the worst of what came through and at 11 AM, we came out of the closet and decided a nice lunch and nap would top the morning off quite well!
Although our house was buzzing the last week with the anticipation of Aaron's wedding, there was something that Abby was waiting on - and asking every day if the time for it had come. It was Uncle Roger and Aunt Nancy's arrival. We were all excited for our weekend house guests. We love each time they come to visit and it is always sad to see them leave for their return trip home to Columbus, MS. If you don't have the pleasure of knowing these two, you are missing out. They are two of the kindest, funniest, most generous, most loving people we know and we're not only fortunate to call them family but friends as well. This morning we gave them lots of goodbye hugs and kisses and sent them on their way home...with the plans for the next visit already! See you two soon!
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker, wherever you're going I'm going your way.
Today was the day...Aaron's wedding! After almost 4 years of dating, Aaron (Eric's younger brother) proposed to his fiance, Jenifer, over 14 months ago so this day has been a long time coming! But, as the saying goes, it was definitely worth the wait!!! We started the morning off by heading to the Bride's house to check on her and give her lots of good luck hugs and wishes! She was spending the morning with her Bridesmaids and girlfriends getting all dolled and dressed up for the ceremony...and the end result was beautiful! We headed home to meet our own hair stylist (Teri) who turned our master bathroom into a beauty salon and we love love loved being pampered! By lunch time, our house was full of family and friends for the "Groom's Get Together"...Goldfingers, coleslaw, beans, rolls, chips/dip, and yummy red velvet cake. The groom and his friends got all spiffed up in their tuxedos and argyle socks (ha!) and were handsome with a capital letter H. At 3:30 we rushed the Groom off to the church so he and the Bride could have a special moment together before the pictures began. Less than 3 hours later all the pictures were taken and the pre-ceremony music began. The ceremony, which started at 7 pm, was wonderful - a simply gorgeous night of pretty flowers, lovely ladies, handsome men and a sweet ceremony topped off with laughter and love! The bridal party whisked away to the reception site in Daleville and the party began. Lots of music, some dancing with the Bride, great food (lots and lots of great food...chocolate table, cookie table, kiddos table, potato bar, fruit table, veggies, chips, meats, etc.), cake cutting, more pictures and then a sidewalk full of sparklers to wish the happy couple off on a wonderful honeymoon! After a couple of days in Foley, Alabama, Aaron and Jenifer are headed on a cruise out of Mobile and will return home next week. We had a wonderful night and are so happy for the couple! Congrats again to Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Wade!!!! We love you both!!
Top 10 Memories of the Wedding
Number 10 - Capturing tons of kisses on camera...including Johnny Childs, Ted Brunson, Ronald Fulford, Jeremy Sullivan, David Lambert and Theo Lee!
Number 9 - The omnipresent baby teething ring.
Number 8 - "I can't do it" (No, not a comment by the Bride or Groom - but rather by the Flower Girl...2 seconds after she was told to walk down the aisle and throw out the flowers.)
Number 7 - Watching the groom's face...not when he was waiting for the Bride, but rather when he realized he was wearing the wrong tux, hee hee.
Number 6 - Watching the Bride's nephew come to a dead stop in front of the Bride and Groom during the garter removal...finally, a smile, LOL!
Number 5 - Pops great sense of smell, ba ha ha!
Number 4 - Matthew Beasley and TWO girls...ha ha!
Number 3 - How long does it take to get a ring out of a pouch? Wait for it, wait for it...keep waiting for it. LOL!
Number 2 - Never looking at eagles or cement the same way again.
And number 1 best memory of Aaron and Jen's wedding - THE KISS!!!
love Easter time...the wonderful Bible stories, the holiday activities and yes, even the Easter candy (Come on, who doesn't love a good Reeses Peanut Butter egg? Ha!). Starting today, we're about a month out and we plan to spend the next few weeks celebrating this wonderful time of year!!!!
