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It gets better...

I have been wanting to write this one for awhile now.  It has just been so close to my mind lately.  I had to get it down.

When I was pregnant with the girls and parents of twins found out it was twins, we would get a variety of reactions.

"Twins?  Well, you are in for it."

"Ohhhh, good luck with that."

"Hahahahahahah....HAHAHAHAHA!"

All negative, no positive, even from friends with twins.

After I had them, I kinda got it.  It was hard!!  When we were out and about, we would sometimes run into parents of twins.  We would chat about all sorts of info, but the one question I asked every single one was, "Does it get better/easier?"  The answer I heard more than any other was, "It just changes." or "It gets different".  NOT the answer this completely overwhelmed, sleep deprived, hormonal, weepy mama needed to hear.

So here we are 3 years into the roller coaster of twinhood and I must say...

It Gets Better!

I no longer want to throat punch people who tell me they have always wanted twins.  I no longer say, "Umm, no you don't.  No, for the love of all things holy, you DO NOT!"

Yes, there are days when they are off the wall hyper and run me ragged.  There are days when they are soooo 3 years old.  There are days when the 3-going-on-13 attitude is at it's highest.  There are days when if I hear "STOP!" one more time, I may just lock myself in the bathroom.  Speaking of the bathroom, I can go without a scream fest going on in my absence because they think I have abandoned them.  I can take 2 steps away from them with no crying!

I can say, "Wait a minute."  and they DO!
I can say, "Go get your dishes for me."  and they WILL!
I can say, "What's wrong?"  and they KNOW!
I can say, "Go play" and they GO!

And what about sleep, you ask, since that has always been a huge struggle.  5 nights out of 7, I am getting 8 hrs of sleep.  Yes, you hear than right.  My non-sleeping ever children are finally sleeping through the night.  Olivia sleeps in her bed all night.  Abby comes and gets in our bed around 1:00.  She snuggles herself in between us and goes right back to sleep.  Let's not mention the fact that this has just occurred in the last month...ahem, moving on. 

Can you say, "Halleluiah!"  I sure can and do every single day.

So...

If you are new to this twin thing and you think you may not survive, it does get better, so much better. 
 

Ah, hi

What took me so long to update?

Wow, since April.  I didn't think I would ever step so far away from this blog.  It was great for so so long, but several things have happened this year.

1. I realized that anyone could read what I wrote.  Yes I realize this should have been a given.  About a year ago, I went to a birthday party that happen to fall after an especially heart wrenching post I wrote about how hard I was struggling.  I met a complete stranger there that was a friend of a friend and she found my blog through our mutual friend.  Anyway, she had read it and commented to me about it.  It wasn't a bad comment, but it bothered me.  I felt raw and vulnerable and as I was there struggling with the girls, I felt like I was a complete failure.  I felt like someone had gone through my personal journal and waved it around for all to see.  Never mind that person was indeed myself.  I mean, hello, public blog here.    

2. In the span of a 12 hour period, my father-in-law passed away and my mom had a heart attack.  She recovered and is doing well, but to say we were shaken is a huge understatement.  Our lives changed in an instant and I was thrown into adulthood.  I'm going to quote Forest here and say, "That's all I'm gonna say about that."  At least for the moment.

3.  Then, a short time later, my on-line support group of MOMs (Moms of Multiples) split right down the middle.  I'm not going to go into the nitty gritty, but so many things were said and done it was staggering to go through.  I've since taken a step back from it.  The internet became a scary place for a little bit.  I was hesitant to open myself up to those who could still read about my life and that included the blog.

Now, not all my reasons are negative because...

 4. I started a cake decorating business.  I started making cakes for family and friends and friends of friends in January.  Since it is now legal in Texas to be a home baker, I have started opening it up to the public.  Serendipity Cakes was born and it took off like crazy.  As of today, I have had 29 orders for cakes, cupcakes, cupcake toppers, or Fondant figures.  Plus, I made all 3 of the kids' cakes, too. It has truly been an amazing experience.

Here are some of my favorites:

  
It has truly brought me out of my funky depression more than anything has so far.  So, it has also been taking up some of my extra time.  My Facebook page is here Serendipity Cakes on Facebook. I would love for you to keep up with me!  I am in the process of choosing a logo, a painfully slow process.  I am also working on a website.  I will post that as soon as it is up.

5. Sheesh, the kids.  They are huge and fast and busy!  Looking through pictures to post, I am embarrassed at the lack of them to choose from.  

This one is from August!  

This child is now 4 inches shorter than me.

 

They started Mother's Day Out in September

Saved my sanity, let me tell you!

Halloween Pictures

So now you are a little caught up with us.

I'm not really sure about the blog.  I felt like blogging today, so I did.  I want to get back into it, but...see above reasons.

Happy Birthday to my Zachary

Here he is!!

No wait

That's not right.

HERE he is!

 

No that's not quite right either

For real
Here he is!

 My huge big kid! 

He is 9 years old today.  

9

9

When did this happen?  I am too young to have a 9 year old??  (Not really, but dang, it sure feels that way sometimes).  He is tall, so very tall!  4'10" to be exact.  He no longer fits under my arm or comes up to my shoulder.  I can't even rest my chin on his head anymore.

See how long he is??

This is from his jump party birthday this past weekend

And he is a BOY!  So much a boy.  He does gross boy things like burp on command, laugh about bodily functions, and sweat (eww!)  I may or may not laugh with him.  He is into boy things like; Nerf Guns,Legos, video games like Halo, and he's very into camping and Cub Scout things.  

His hat is always just a little crooked :-)

He is no longer my baby.
Age 3 days old

Look at this sweet smile!
Age 2.5

My little love
(We've both changed a little)
Age 1

 

He loved to read books

Age 21 months (?)

Happy Birthday sweet boy kid!

Picnic Time!

We have had some seriously beautiful weather lately.  During Spring Break my family went to the Botanical Gardens to have a picnic.  I have been going to this garden since I was a kid.  This is one of the first places Gary and I took Zachary after he met him.  It's a great place.

 

 

I love how I caught them doing the same thing here. 

Tasty crumbs

Abby with 2 of her favs

Grana and strawberries

My sweet boy

I love how Zachary is looking at Abby here.

Abby running after a ball

that they told us to put away

"because this is a garden not a park"

RESPECT THE GARDEN!

Olivia is respecting the garden by singing and dancing
Is that allowed, Mr Stuffy Pants??

Can you tell I'm a little annoyed by the whole
"respect the garden by not playing in it" crap?
Whatever

They had a nature walk where we pushed buttons for bird calls.

They also had these "telephones" you could talk to
each other from the next area.

Funny story break.  We were standing at one of the phones and a girl up ahead was trying to figure out what was up with it.  She leaned in and I said hi through my end.  She jerked back and looked around and tentatively came back for another listen.  I told her I liked her green shirt.  She whipped around and headed straight for her mom, all the while looking around.  Bwhahahahahah!!  I crack up every time I think about it.  It was truly hilarious. ::giggle::  I caught up to her to explain to her and her mom that she was not being stalked by some alien.  ::snort::

::Ahem:: 
Moving right along to the flower garden section of our Nature Walk.

      

There was a girl next to them getting her picture taken, too.

They could not keep their eyes off of her.

This is my nephew Cameron, oh so carefully helping Abby.

He is expecting a baby sister in May and 

he will be a fabulous big brother!

Daddy's turn to help Olivia

Ah, my diva

Olivia checking out a fountain

This is a little blurry, but it's probably my favorite of the day.  

Abby is doing her new stern face

and Zachary is loving it

Spoiled?

Daddy treated the girls to pink and purple sand

Spoiled??

Nahhhhh!

Of course, after day 1 the sand is now pinkle or purpilk.  Quite mixed up, but pretty :-)

Snow Days

We had snow this week!!

Well, it was more like ice pellets/sleet, but it was white and that is all that mattered.  What was different is the wind chill was 0 degrees.  Yes, in Texas.  It was fah-reezing outside! 

All bundled up and ready to go

Of course, Zachary was in heaven!

Olivia loved it as well

and stomped around to her heart's content

 

 

Oh, Abby

 

She was pretty miserable, but she hung in there.

She said over and over that she was ok and wanted to stay out.

They stayed out for about 30 mins and they were ready to come back in.

They snuggled in front of the fireplace

with plenty of static in their hair (hee hee)