HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!

I had big plans for taking some creative pictures and posting one heck of a Happy Birthday message today, since Gary is out of town for his second birthday in a row...unfortunately, some sort of flu has caught my attention, so I'm juggling 2 babies, a fever, and just overall feeling crappy.  The shots below were the best I could do...I will brag on my little munchkins to say that they couldn't have been better little girls yesterday and today!  Mostly all I've felt like doing is lie on the floor beside them, and they have somehow managed to entertain themselves and me, nap well, and eat well all weekend!!

Anyway, back to the point...Happy Birthday to the chief pilot of our little nest...WE LOVE YOU and can't wait to see you in the morning!! (Please excuse Macy's first little bloody nose in the picture...she got in a fight with the pavement on Friday...poor baby!)

Georgia, Sweet Georgia

Rewind the clock two weeks and I'll start with the first of a few necessary posts to catch you up on the happenings of the Ernst family...

First, I couldn't resist posting these pictures of the girls working on their "fork to mouth" skills...or should I say "fork to hair", "fork to face", and maybe just a LITTLE will land in the mouth...I'm pretty sure this is the messiest I've ever seen Macy, and I promise she didn't throw up on herself, even though it's hard, from this pic, to believe otherwise!  Needless to say, this meal was followed immediately by a bath!

So then...2 weekends ago, we headed to Georgia for a whirlwind of celebrations.  We took the 210 (small plane) and headed into Gainesville on Friday to start the weekend out with our "usual" Mellow Mushroom pizza...there's nothing to make Gary happier!  We enjoyed lunch and some playtime afterward with cousin Haley, Mimi, and Grandpa, where Makayla dolled herself up in the finest of Haley's jewelry...she's such an accessory queen...Macy, on the other hand, enjoyed understated beauty in support of her sister.   Haley does SUCH a GREAT job of playing with her cousins...unfortunately, once again, I failed to capture that on camera!  After naps, we all headed out for dinner to meet Aunt Sabrina and Uncle Clayton. 

On Saturday, the girls and I loaded up the car and headed to Aunt Sheryl's house to attend a baby shower for Aunt Sabrina and cousin Noah who's scheduled to make an appearance NEXT MONTH!!  We're SO excited to welcome little Noah to the family, and were thrilled to get to attend the shower!  Of course, Aunt Sheryl, Aunt Melissa, Menace, and Mimi threw an excellent party, complete with adorable cupcakes made by Aunt Sheryl, and the girls enjoyed eating, playing on the stairs, and coloring a bib for the new little guy!  It was a great party, and I wish I had more pics, but for some reason it just felt like my hands were pretty full all day!  :)

On Saturday afternoon, we met up with Gary and went to a Fall Festival in Duluth to meet Mimi and Grandpa, Grandma and Papaw, and Uncle Nathan, Aunt Lauren, and Emmy Cate!  It was a HOT day, and we started out with an attempt to enjoy the shade of the Carousel...Unfortunately, the girls didn't appreciate that effort very much and mostly clung to Mimi and I like a wet t-shirt.  Fortunately, Emmy Cate is a little more adventurous, and she couldn't have enjoyed the ride more!  After that waste of a quick $12, we decided to divert our attention elsewhere, and made it to the playground.  The girls had a blast hanging out with both sets of grandparents, as well as their Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin!  It's so fun to watch the girls all play together!  (Several of these pics are plagerized directly from Aunt Lauren...thanks, Lauren!)

After all of the carnival excitement, we headed to Uncle Nathan and Aunt Lauren's house for dinner to celebrate Papaw's birthday!  Since all 9 of us don't get to get together very often, it was a lot of fun!  We enjoyed playtime, struggled through dinner for the babies, and then put all 3 girls in bed while we had a nice quiet dinner to celebrate!

After a late night's drive back to Mimi's, we hit the sack and got up early to head back home so Gary could go to work and we could recouperate from our busy weekend!  It was a blast, and, as always, so good to see everyone...if only we could have more time!

More to come to cover weekend #2 in St Louis!!

Family Fun 5K for Fetal Hope

Today we accomplished something I thought we would never do...a 5K race for the entire family!  The race was a benefit for an awesome organization, Fetal Hope Foundation - http://www.fetalhope.org/ - that I've found out about through my Lake Norman Mothers of Multiples Group, and I feel a specific loyalty to the organization due to their heavy involvement with twin pregnancies and many of the common "risks" that present themselves in multiples pregnancy and birth.  I feel that God blessed us SO MUCH by making my pregnancy, delivery, and everything before and after to be so PERFECT, so it seems that the least I can do is give back a little to an organization like this that helps those who aren't so fortunate. 

Given Gary's sworn dis-interest in running, I didn't think I'd ever see the day that he'd run an entire race with me...even after a late night with "the guys" the night before, he still got up early, ran the race with me, and he did GREAT!!!...and we dragged the girls along for the fun too!!

Here's  a "before" shot...

And a little more tired and sweaty "After"...

While Gary and I didn't really run neck in neck the whole time, we never got separated by too much, and the girls rode in their stroller like perfect angels!  Usually I end up having to sing to them or something, but I guess the new scenery and constant stream of running companions was better than my singing!  :)

Afterward, we hung around for a little bit to visit with the other "Mothers of Multiples" from my group, check out the other vendors, watch the kids play, and let the girls look (from afar, since they were scared to get close) at the mascots that were there such as Elmo, Ronald McDonald, and Curious George! 

Macy had an extraordinary interest in rolling around in the grass...I guess it was softer than what we have at home...it was SO cute!!  She LOVED it!

And Makayla played in the grass a little, but only as long as Mommy and Daddy were within reach!  She LOVED waving at the characters, but only until they looked or walked her way, then she cowered down in fear.  It was so funny!

And the final shot...Makayla went with me to collect my ribbon for 2nd in my age group of females...and we were the winners of the "Stroller Division"!!!

We didn't set any time records, that's for sure, but it was a small race, and I was proud to say that we held our own against the crowd pretty well!!

On to Cooper River Bridge...a 10K in Charleston, SC that we're planning to run with a big group of people in April...I don't think Gary realized just how far 6 miles was until after today, so hopefully I can keep him interested!! 

Are Ya'll Ready for Some Football?

We are! We spent the first of many lazy Saturdays watching college football...the girls aren't quite ready for "Football 101" yet, so instead, they spent some time playing with their new favorite "Little People" toys, and were good enough to let Mommy and Daddy catch a few games, including watching the Mountaineers win Game #2 for the season!

For their 13 month "birthdays", they again enjoyed one of their new favorite foods...corn on the cob!  If only Papaw Harlan were still here to give them an ear right off the stalk out in the garden...mommy would be so proud! :)

And this picture shows Makayla in her very favorite fashions...pj t-shirt, no pants, 1 shoe, and a pretty "necklace" (yes, that's actually a computer cord) wrapped around her neck!  At least we know they get their fashion sense honest!  :)

Beach Trip #3

Two weeks ago, we took the girls on an "Ernst Family" vacation...just us...no "built-in" babysitters (i.e. grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins).  We also stayed in a "simple" resort hotel room, so we had no kitchen (not even an "ette"), no bathtub, and luckily, our first trip with no bottles, no purees, and VERY LITTLE formula!  It was so much fun!!!

We went to Hilton Head for a 2 night trip, and the ride down was the girls' first trip in the car facing toward the front!  They loved having easy access to each other, easy views of Mom and Dad, and were finally told about the DVD player in the car!!  Baby Einstein's "Baby MacDonald" is the current favorite, so after a quick nap, we enjoyed "mooing" and "oinking" all the way to the beach!  :)

Of course, one of our first stops was the beach...unfortunately, our girls aren't quite as brave around this water as they are with every other splash of water that they encounter...Macy got into it a little with her Daddy, but after a couple of minutes of watching the waves, Makayla maintained a TIGHT grip on my neck and arms until we had moved a safe distance away! We still managed a quick family shot before I gave in and took her to safer ground. Funny enough, the next day, AFTER baths and a fresh change of clothes, Makayla did decide that it was time to enjoy the sand. We had planned to go out to grab dinner, but after getting our elbows dirty and going through a whole additional showering process (as I said before, no bathtub!!), the girls were EXHAUSTED, and we realized that our previous night's dining plan would be the plan for night 2 as well...vacations used to be a lot about good restaurants, good drinks, and late nights out...now, we feed the girls something easy, find good takeout and bottles of wine for ourselves, and spend late nights hanging out on the deck while the girls are tucked peacefully in bed inside! Ten years ago, I might have seen this as quite the sacrifice. Now, I honestly don't think it could have been more perfect!

On day 2 of our trip, besides spending time in the sand, surf, and mostly the pool, we decided to rent bikes from our resort.  This was an awesome use of $40 and I think all 4 of us enjoyed this little adventure...except for the part where we had to ride home from breakfast in the POURING rain...unfortunately, meteorologist Daddy wasn't too good at predicting the weather this morning, and I felt like a HORRIBLE mother watching my babies get POUNDED by rain, but we got back to the hotel, ran to our rooms, and put them back in the shower to get warm and then dry off for a morning nap...it was definitely a bike ride that Gary and I won't forget, and the girls were great troopers...but I do think they wondered what the heck we were thinking!!! 

By the time naps were over, the weather moved out, and we had a perfect afternoon for grabbing lunch, taking another ride on the bikes, hitting the pool, then having a few "boat drinks" and hanging by the pool. 

Our trip home was torturously long for all of us, since we came home via Charleston (long story...), but after the 10 hour trip, we were all happy to be back safe and sound. 

Since it's been a while since my last post, I had a few other random "around the house" pictures as well...the girls have been spending time enjoying ALL of their birthday presents, and have gotten a lot of use out of their "splash pad", their water table, their sun hats, and their tricycles...not to mention their chairs, bean bags, and all of the other indoor toys that keep them busy!! There's never a dull moment, that's for sure!! They also helped Papaw make homemade ice cream for the first time, and he was not afraid to make them earn their treat! :)

On a less playful note, we went to the doctor 2 weeks ago for our yearly checkup...both girls are pretty tall, Makayla more so than Macy, and, unfortunately, our poor girls both have very large heads...Macy more so than Makayla...so big that, for the first time ever, our doctor had our nurse measure mine and Gary's heads!!!  You guessed it...both of us measured very large!!  Here are the stats:
Macy - 

• Height - 30 inches (75th percentile)
• Weight - 20.15 lbs (30th percentile)
• Head Circumfrence - 48.5 cm (>97th percentile)

Makayla -

• Height - 31 inches (90-95th percentile)
• Weight - 20.15 lbs (30th percentile)
• Head Circumfrence - 47 cm (>97th percentile)

They both checked out completely perfect, regarding overall health, development, etc!  Unfortunately, since then, we had a bout with a random sickness/fever...Makayla one day, a "break", then Macy the next day...and over this past week, we've had a nasty bout with a stomach virus that's still hanging on.  Unfortunately, this one has been really rough on the girls, and has caused Gary and I to put in a request for HazMat suits...I shouldn't joke about it, but I have to deal with it somehow!!  It's been horrible watching them feel so rotten, and having such a hard time keeping ANYTHING in their system!  Thankfully, Grandma and Papaw kept the girls for one night over the weekend so Gary and I could have a quick break, but, unfortunately, they ended up getting a taste of it themselves too...Hopefully we're all on our way to being healthy again soon!!

Whew...I guess maybe all of this craziness helps provide a little bit of explanation why it's taken me so long to post!!  As usual, I'll ask for forgiveness and attempt to do better!  :)  Happy Fall!

Party Girls!

We celebrated the girls' birthday last weekend with a blowout of all blow outs!  We were all thrilled at the crowd that came out to join us!   Unfortunately, the girls are in a phase where ANY size crowd overwhelms them, so our crowd of 50+ people definitely had them in bashful mode!  Some may argue that we should have kept the group smaller, but considering how big our families are anyway, and the fact that we have such a FANTASTIC network of people whose support has truly helped us survive through the last year, we decided just to go big! 

After setting up for the party at the clubhouse, we rushed home to dress the girls in their birthday t-shirts and snapped a few quick shots.  Emmy Cate stopped by to help, and then we tried to get a good pre-party shot with Dad.  We snuck in one quick family shot when we arrived, and then the party started!

After enjoying a LOT of Animal Crackers, and a little bit of burgers and dogs, the girls got to see their AWESOME "Baby Neptune" cake made by Aunt Sheryl and I'm pretty sure it was the best cake I have ever tasted.  The smash cakes were adorable little beach balls, but, unfortunately, our mess-averse little ones didn't like getting their hands sticky, so they didn't dive in as much as we'd hoped.  Once we cleaned up and provided utensils, though, they enjoyed their first taste of chocolate...and you better believe Papaw enjoyed giving it to them since we've been torturously forbidding him from sharing his treats for a full year now!  The other kids, led by cousin Emmy Cate were ready to dig in too!

The girls got SO MANY AWESOME gifts both before, after, and during the party, and came out of their shell enough to really enjoy that part of the evening!  The bean bag chairs from Aunt Sally may have been the biggest hit for the night, but they've made rounds with the rest of their goodies all week too, and are so thrilled to have a new source of entertainment!  While she was here, Haley helped show them how to enjoy a lot of their toys as well!

It was so much fun, and we were all so honored that so many cared enough to join us for the festivities, and so blessed with such awesome friends and family!  THANK YOU to everyone for gifts that were sent from out of town, spending the weekend with us, helping with our party, joining us at our celebration, and for all of the goodies!