wordless wednesday

and my favorite.........



how did i get stuck in between these two?

How did he do that?

I know when Matty comes and says
"hurry up and bring your camera"
odds are he means it.
And it's going to be good.

Don't ask us how.

We have no idea.

He was sound asleep.

We think Chloe had something to do with it......we just aren't sure what.

She was in her crib.

So, even if she threw it what are the chances it would end up like this?

Don't mind his mismatched jammies. Laundry has never been my strong suit.

Reason #4,362 it's awesome to be a twin.

And reason #642 I am shocked we haven't been to the ER.

My kid's a junkie

His drug of choice?

His pacy.

Which he calls "acy"

And he asks for it 6,248 times a day.

We are trying to break him of the habit.

I use that term loosely.

Ever since the third one arrived, we became lazy.
And we realized how much quicker and easier it is to just shove it in his mouth.

Prior to that, we were using it only when he slept.

Kinda.

So, we're back on track.

Kinda.

And apparently he's down to improvise.

Tonight he picked up a cd,

put his finger through it,

and said "acy"

and proceeded to run around sucking his finger.

Unreal.

Any "acy" breaking suggestions?

I Scream

My mom made the twins hommeade organic ice cream.

I think they liked it.

i'm sorry, florida

i curse you.
a lot.
i am simply not a fan of your heat.

especially this time of year.
especially reading everyone's status updates about cider and apples and fall and such.

i am constantly reminded that we will go from
summer

to fall

and back to summer sometime in march.

i say if it weren't for my family i wouldn't live here.

but,
for almost a month now,

i have packed up
and headed out.
three kids in tow.
and said out loud
"this is probably our last time in the water".

it's cooling off around here.
and when i say cooling off, i mean it's 101.2 instead of 103.5.

that slight dip in temperature makes a big difference to my florida babies as they frolic in the water.

but,
you haven't let me down.

so florida,
here's to you.

i'm calling a truce.
in fact,
i apologize.
i'm going to stay.
and i'm going to like it.

just give me a taste of fall.
and a few days with ice during "winter".

as for now,
we'll continue to drink up your sunshine in our flip flops.

and we'll continue to keep our suits in the car.

and when we get too hot?

we'll strip down

and cool off in the water.

we'll soak up the shade your palm trees provide.

 and we will continue to marvel at your bright blue skies.
until eight o' clock.

we'll continue to cool off with white instead of warming up with red.

and in your honor, florida we'll hop on your team and keep summer alive.
with
one
more
buzz.

sorry, mom.

his hair is still on the back porch if you want it.

now if you'll excuse me, i am going to turn the air down. and eat the beef stew that has been crocking for eight hours.

true story.

mac n cheese

my twins are like
mac n cheese
pb&j
wings and bleu cheese. when you spell bleu bleu instead of blue does it make you fancier? that's why i do it.
boom.
i'm fancy.

anyways
my point is, they just go together.

but,
the twins are being separated tonight.
like, all night.

chloe is going to her first slumber party at her aunt lora's
where she will hang with her best friend/cousin emma.
who the twins refer to as memma.

the twins have never slept apart.
in fact, they have only been separated 12 times.
and the longest time was 5 hours when i was at after hours peds when colton had rsv.


is that weird?

when one wakes up before the other they just wander around aimlessly saying

bubba?

bubba!

bu-bba?

bubba. bubba.

i asked the teacher at school today if they play with the other or stick together.

she said they do their own thing but constantly look to make sure the other one is still there.

that is my observation, too.

which makes me happy.

i want them to fly solo but i also want them to want each other.

so tonight chloe is going to be in a fantasy land.

aunt lora said she is pulling out all the stops.

late bed times.

sugar.

no schedule

movies

and all things girly.

live it up, girlfriend.

so basically this is a pretty boring post for documentation purposes.

The Little Mermaid

Ok, you all know how we played the name game.
We had a very difficult time sealing the deal.

Matt joked while I was in labor that we were going to name her after our favorite nurse.

In fact, when Stella came out one of the first things the doctor and nurses said was

"well, what are you going to name her?"

We have it on video.

Us naming her.

I want to watch it, I haven't seen it yet.

Matt and I spent the night at the beach a few weeks before Stella was born.

I took a long nap in a dark, cold, quiet room and thought how awesome would it be to take the baby's newborn pictures on the beach?

It seemed different.

And that's what I was going for.

Then, I remembered that we had talked about Maris being an option for a middle name.

You can read about that here.

It means sea.

And Stella means star.

So her name means star of the sea.

So, I thought, if we name her Stella Maris I was absolutely going to do her newborn shots on the beach.

And then

coincidentally

my cousin-in-law who I just call my cousin,

Amy, who adorably blogs here, sent me a picture of a crocheted mermaid tail.

Ummmm what???

Was she reading my mind?

The tail was so cute it made me want to name her Stella Maris just so the shoot would have more meaning.

So I did.

Not just for the pictures.....well maybe just a little bit.

Ya'll know I do pretty much anything for a good picture.

Next, enter Mark, my uncle-in-law who is an amazing photographer.

After lots of idea bouncing we had a plan.

And whoa.
It worked.

Here are baby Stella's newborn pics.  

And I'm in love.

This poor baby got roughed up during the shoot.
Her daddy was having a heart attack at some of our ideas so we saved the shots where she got soaking wet in the freezing cold water for when he took the twins to the car.

Oops.
I told you I would do anything for a good pic. But even I wasn't expecting that wave.
I was watching her and it came out of nowhere.

I kept telling her she would appreciate me when she had the coolest newborn pictures to put in her graduation party slide show.

But,
even I felt bad when she got covered in sand so I took one for the team and licked it off of her sweet face.
Mark was kind enough to catch me in the act.

It was gross.

Mark's website: http://eclecticanima.zenfolio.com/

Stella's Mermaid tail: http://www.etsy.com/listing/77940916/mermaid-photo-prop

P.S. I have had a few people ask me if these pictures were real.

100% yes.

Bubbly Toes

just another day.

i never know where i'm going to find him.

or what he's going to be wearing.
or not wearing.

i went inside for two minutes and fourteen seconds to get the baby monitor.

and came back to find this.

pictures like these are the reason i try to have my phone with me at all times.

i mean, you just can't make this stuff up.

confession

Tonight Matt and I were debating where to put the baby while I made dinner and he put the twins in their high chairs.
Matt suggested on the floor in the bouncy seat.
After I gave him a look of insanity he said

"What? The twins know now to be gentle with the baby".

Pssshhhhh.

I went to the laundry room and knew something was really wrong when

A: I heard Stella really crying.
    She has only cried 2 times.
    Once when Colton kicked her in the head
    and once when Chloe poked her in the eye.

B: I had to yell at least four times "what happened" before I got an answer.

Well
What had happened was......


I can actually show you.
Big Baby and Chloe were kind enough to reenact the scene.

Big Baby got the name Big Baby by my niece, Emma, for rather obvious reasons.
She's huge.

Yes, Matt actually found the bouncy seat like this
and
yes, my three week old daughter was in it.
and
yes, we think Chloe was the culprit being that she did it over and over again after we so kindly removed Stella.
Glad it didn't happen on my watch.

On a happier note, upon picking the kids up from school today I heard a little girl scream right after Colton walked in the classroom. He and two little girls were the only ones in the room so I was positive he had hit or pushed her. I reluctantly peeked my head in the room and saw the little girl screaming face down on the floor.

I even more reluctantly asked if he did it.

His teacher, shocked, looked at his other teacher and said "Colton?" "The twins?"

No way! We have been saying all day how well behaved the twins are! They are so easy going!

Got 'em!

At least for another week or so......

And while we're confessing,
Sometimes I pretend I am still nursing the baby even when I have been done for five minutes just to get out of taking care of the twins.
True story.

Sorry, Matt