Pomp It Up!

Today was the day...the graduation service for the Wicksburg High School Class of 2011! Although there were several graduates that we loved celebrating this special day with (a special shout out to Stetson, Taylor, Sam, Zack and Shelby!), we truly loved watching our "4th daughter" Jessica Renee Ganous walk across the stage and receive her diploma. Although we've known Jess for much longer, it was 4 years ago that she became part of our family...she's been there for babies, birthdays, vacations, slumber parties, play dates and much much more. We are very proud of her and wish her much success for her future while she attends ESCC/Troy and receives her degree in Early Education! Congratulations Jess - we love you!!!!

Making Memories

"A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart." (Author Unknown)

If you take a glimpse into our home, every now and then you will find two children (one still at heart) sitting in the downstairs den prolonging bedtime by enjoying each other's company while watching a movie on television. About a year ago, the night included the movie Kung Fu Panda. And when the previews for Kung Fu Panda 2 came out last month, Abby started asking when she could go. Tonight, she enjoyed a dinner and movie date with her Daddy....going to see the "lawyers" (a.k.a. warriors), go get "in a piece" (a.k.a inner peace) with "Matter Seafood" (a.k.a Master Shifu).

P.S. On a side note, today was Memorial Day. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. We are thankful for the service these men and women gave to our country, and we lift up their families as we remember them today.

Arggg maties!

The final celebration for Eric was another birthday dinner and party with his parents, brother and sister in law. We headed out to eat and ended up at what will soon be called the place where all of us go for our birthday dinners - Santa Fe. So far, three out of the five of us have celebrated out birthdays there...and tonight didn't disappoint. After dinner we headed back home for cake and presents. Another Pirates of the Caribbean kinda night around here....Happy Birthday!!!

My sunbathing beauties

Abigail Lee
4 years, 3 months, 25 days


Reagan Nichole
12 months, 13 days


Blaire Elizabeth
12 months, 13 days

BFFs in the hizzle

"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though she knows that you are slightly cracked." (Bernard Meltzer) Here's to our wonderful friends, the Godwins! We love you all and are very fortunate to have you in our lives...especially on days like today when we can spend the entire day together laughing, playing, talking and enjoying each other's families! Hugs and Love dear friends!

Wordless Wednesday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERIC!!!!

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Daddy,
Happy birthday to you!

That's what Eric heard from his four favorite girls first thing this morning! Yep, it's Eric's birthday!!! He's now 35 years old! And although he already had some birthday celebrating this past weekend, we had some more plans up our sleeves for the big day! As soon as Eric headed off to work, we all got bathed and dressed and followed right behind...to surprise him at lunch! Sondra (his secretary)
and Scott (the other lawyer at the office) were taking him out to eat and they were in on the secret plan! Eric didn't know we were going to be there until he opened the restaurant door and we yelled SURPRISE! We all enjoyed a yummy meal - and the birthday boy even got some singing and dessert! Then, while he headed back to the office for some more surprises and treats, we headed out for some party store shopping to get ready for tonight! Abby, Blaire and Reagan all helped me pick out some perfect pirate decorations for the Pirates of the Caribbean party theme we've had going! When Eric got home that night, there were balloons, plates, glasses, eye patches and the perfect present Abby picked out for him - 2 pirate swords for the two of them to play sword fights...just what every little 4 year old girl does with her Daddy, right? We ate another one of Eric's favorite meals - fried pork chops, salad, BBQ bread, corn and rice. And we snacked on key lime pie for dessert. Yum! The perfect day for our perfect man! Happy Birthday - we LOVE you!!!!!

Work hard, play harder

Today everyone that lives in our house and is over the age of 5 had to go to court! And we needed someone to hold down the fort so we called in the heavy guns - Kasey and Lydia! LOL! All kidding aside, Kasey came over to help us out. She watched the girls until I came home from work and after a little lunch, we all headed to the pool. It was a great afternoon - we ran into a bunch of friends and neighbors at the pool...and we enjoyed ourselves a ton! Oh, and no sunburns - woo hoo!!!!

Fun in the Sun!

Well, if you've kept up with us on Blogger or Facebook for the last week, you might have noticed that something's been missing - not only our Abbyisms, but our Abby! After we celebrated the twins first birthday, she took off with her Gramercy and Papa Doc for an entire week of fun in the sun in Sandestin, Florida - where they live. We missed her terribly so - in fact the twins would go bonkers when they saw her on Skype! They had a great week alone with Mommy and Daddy but sure did miss their Big Sister! And this afternoon she headed back home and we welcomed her with balloons, presents and a dinner of her choice! Welcome Home, Abby!

The birthday boy!!!

Around here, we don't just celebrate the day of your birth...we stretch birthdays into days, weeks, and sometimes even birthday months! And it was time to start the birthday celebration for Eric! On Tuesday, May 24th, he will turn 35 years old. A couple of weeks ago, we were watching TV and a commercial came on for:

Eric said "I'd like to go see that for my birthday." And a plan was set into motion! Since Abby has been gone for a week on a beach vacation (more to come in a future post), we were fortunate to have someone volunteer for the twins to go and have their very fist slumber party away from home - and without Mommy or Daddy! So last night, with the house quiet, and no kids around, we enjoyed a birthday dinner of grilled steaks, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, salad and BBQ bread dinner! Then we headed out on date night to the late movie - the opening night of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides! It's been a while since we've had a date night, much less one where we were out past midnight! It was fun celebrating Eric's birthday with him...and as Abby says - "Shhhh, don't tell him but we have more things for his birthday! It's a secret!" So stay tuned to see what the birthday boy will be surprised with!

PS - To make this night happen, we'd like to give a huge shout out to Aunt Carol and Ra Ra! The girls got their beds and bags packed up and headed over to their house late Friday afternoon. The girls had a ball exploring the house, playing with Aunt Carol and Ra Ra, and eating banana pudding for the first time - which they loved!!! It was nice to enjoy a night out knowing that our girls were safe, happy and having fun! But, first thing this morning I headed over to pick them up - and it was awesome to see their faces light up when I walked into the room...even if gone from us for only for a few hours, those two were missed!!!!!

Sunny days are here again

This morning we had a very special visitor - Courtney Nowell! She can over to spend the day with us...pool side! We had a ball from about 10 AM to about 3 PM! And with the exception of one of us getting sun burnt beyond belief (Trying to figure out who? I'll give you a hint - she was more worried about putting sunscreen on her daughters so they didn't get burned and didn't put enough on herself. Grrrrrr.) it was a great day! Thanks Courtney - and see you here again soon!

Getting our party on

When you spend your days juggling more than one job, more than one child, and more than one thing to do around the house, it's very hard to have a life. You can attempt to have a life, but sometimes the attempts end up big failures because you are stretched too far and can't give your 100%. At the beginning of the year, I sat down and had to decide how to make this all work so we could enjoy life again - without feeling worn out and tired at the end of every single day because of doing too much! Sadly, I had to let some things go...and one of the saddest was leaving the Cospala Red Hatters. Yes, yes, it is really a club for women over 50, BUT, you can still be a member if you are under that age...you are just called a PINK HATTER...and both Abby and I were pink hatters until we had to leave the club. But it was a very pleasant surprise when we got the invitation to join the May function which was at Aunt Carol's house...and introduce Blaire and Reagan to the group! This group of ladies are awesome and it was so wonderful to have them meet the twins...it was the funniest thing too to watch the twins meet these ladies, and all the crazy red hats! It took a while but within minutes they were crawling to these women and turning on the charm! We had a great time visiting - thanks ladies! After leaving the Cospala Red Hatters, we headed down the road less than a mile to Aaron and Jenifer's house for our monthly Third Thursday meal. Tonight's menu included chicken fingers, mac-n-cheese, rice, rolls and sweet potato patties. Whenever we get together with them, the deal is that whoever hosts the event, prepares the meal...and whoever the guest is, brings the dessert. So, dessert was on us - and thanks to the best hubs ever, I didn't even have to prepare or pick up anything - he did it himself! And was I surprised to see chocolate pie? Nope, not at all! Ha ha! The two that were though pleasantly surprised to see the pie were Blaire and Reagan - both whom licked the platter clean! LOL!

Wordless Wednesday

Our lil man!!!

He's here!!!!!! Our little man has arrived! OK, well, not so much "our" little man but close enough seeing as how we've already covered him with tons of love, hugs, smooches and promises of future fun! Heather Bryant (Eric's cousin and one of Barbara's BFFs) gave birth to her third child, Ethan Cole Bryant about 9:24 AM today. He is simply perfect! At birth he weighed 8 pounds and 1 ounce. Compared to his two big sisters (Khloe and Whitney) he is a chunk! But we love every single ounce of him! We are sooooo happy for the Bryant family! Congrats to Mommy, Daddy, Big Sister Whitney and Big Sister Khloe! We love you all!

What's up Doc?

Reagan and Blaire met with Dr. McAllister today for their one year old check up - and they got terrific news! Both girls are still on the slightly smaller side for the 12 month age mark, but they are growing like weeks and Dr. Mac loved seeing them and their progress! Today's numbers were:

Reagan - 18 lbs, 9 ounces; 27 1/2 inches long
Blaire - 19 lbs 6 1/2 ounces; 27 1/2 inches long

The girls each got four vaccinations and a finger prick (to rule out anemia)...and it was awful. The two of them were not happy. Even with our all time favorite nurse, Leigh, handling it all like a pro, they screamed bloody murder. Although most of their appointments with shots and meds has a little bit of screaming, this was horrible. Enough so that we went back to our old blog archives to see if Abby had the same ordeal at her 1st year appointment and guess what? She did! We wrote that it was the worst appointment for her! So, clearly our girls stopped enjoying doctor's appointments when they turn one, ha! But for other news:

-The girls can try whole milk now! We will mix our last can of Similac Neosure with whole milk to start them off. If they tolerate it (with no tummy troubles) they can continue just whole milk! If not, they will have to wait until August to go on whole milk - which is their corrected age of 1 year.

-The girls can still not go into nurseries or daycares. Dr. Mac said that due to the potential for RSV, she said no nurseries until their corrected age. We are hoping that when we go back to her in August (at their 15 month check up) they may be released from this. But to be honest, the only time this is a pain, is on Sundays during worship services - however, if it means keeping our little ones healthy, we will do whatever we are told!

So...all in all, minus the screaming, it was a great appointment! We got the go ahead to have a fun summer with our girls and not come back until August! We love Dr. Mac and Leigh!!! Thanks ladies for helping us take such great care of Reagan and Blaire!

Pomp and Circumstance

This morning, at our church, Providence Baptist in Clayhatchee, we had Graduates Day. As you know, Barbara is the Youth Director at PBC. It was a bit of a sentimental day today because when this year's graduates moved up to the Youth Group at PBC, it was the year Barbara became Youth Director. This morning we congratulated Jessica Ganous and Stetson Webb - two of the graduates of the Wicksburg High School Class of 2011! It was an awesome morning for the Providence family as we have watched these two not only grow into such wonderful young adults, but also to give their testimony to the church as Christians who have turned their lives and hearts over to their Lord and Savior. Our family will be at their graduation with bells on - well, not really wearing bells, but chances are with us walking in with three kids that might be screaming, we'll be heard without bells, LOL! Congrats Jess and Stets - we love you both!

After treating our graduates to the annual Graduates Day Lunch, we headed home only to pack up and Barbara headed out again for the younger group of PBC Youth. It was the Spring Band Concert at Daleville and one word sums it up: AWESOME! Congrats to Brooke, Haleigh, Dalton and Dylan on such wonderful performances! I was completely blown away by not only how many bands there were, but how great each and every one was! It was a great concert and I'm already looking forward to the next one in the fall!

Our birthday babies!

Today is the big day we've all been loooking forward to....Reagan and Blaire's 1st birthday! This time last year was very emotional for us - it is something that we hope and pray none of our friends or family ever have to go through. There were many moments where we didn't know what the future held for our two littlest loves and we begged God to at least give them a future, no matter what it might be. God answered our prayers and blessed us with more than we ever dreamed...two precious, perfectly healthy bundles of joy that we were able to bring home from the NICU and love all over. We've watched them grow over the last 12 months and we are ecstatic to celebrate their 1st birthdays!


Blaire Elizabeth Wade
Then (5/14/10) and now (5/14/11)


Reagan Nichole Wade
Then (5/14/10) and now (5/14/11)

The beginning of the day started with lots of love and hugs - especially from their Big Sister who couldn't wait for their big party. During the morning hours, guests started arriving and by noon our house was full of family and friends that came over to celebrate with Reagan and Blaire. We had music, cupcakes, balloons, bouncey house, pool, swing set, see saw, toys, presents and topped it all off with a grilled hamburger and hot dog lunch. The girls each got a vanilla cake (with an ice cream center) and after about 3 or 4 minutes or checking the cakes out, finally got a little bit more into it! After lunch and dessert, the twins got a bit tired so they took a little cat nap but were soon up and sitting around everyone while they opened their presents - and got a bit of help from friends! They were completely into it and we loved it! By dinner time, almost everyone had left and the girls enjoyed a nice birthday dinner, bath time and snuggle-before-bed time. It was a completely surreal day to enjoy....knowing the struggles these girls faced to even come into the world, and now to see them laughing, playing and eating their birthday cakes! What a wonderful occasion!!!!!!!

Happy birthday to our littlest loves....we love you!

XOXOXOXO

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REAGAN AND BLAIRE...ONE IS FUN!!!

Reagan Nichole Wade
Born 5/14/10 at 5:05 AM

Blaire Elizabeth Wade
Born 5/14/10 at 5:06 AM

Wordless Wednesday