The Great Pumpkin Patch

As you’ve seen from the various traveling posts, we’ve been busy this fall! Despite that, I have continued to be blessed with the opportunity to maintain my part time schedule at work for the time being, and it’s given us some awesome opportunities to hang out as a family! One of the random Tuesday activities was a trip to the Pumpkin Patch! Some of my favorite pictures are from that experience last year, and it’s hard to believe that it was a whole year ago when our best pictures were of the girls propped against pumpkins while they slept peacefully…MY HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED!!

The girls loved playing with all of the orange “balls”, and most of those we purchased were those that were “lovingly thrown” across the field! They also loved looking at the animals…Makayla’s ever-increasing vocabulary quickly caught onto “goat”, but most everything else was either the usual “Dog” or “Duck”!  However, since that trip only a few short weeks ago, her vocabulary has exploded!  She can repeat almost anything (maybe not in a recognizable way, but she gives it her best shot!) and she eagerly says more words on her own every day..."GaGa" (Daddy), Mama, Papaw, Dog, Duck, Baby, Boat, Bubbles, Ball, Shoe, Up, Out, More, Bye Bye, Hi, and Sit Down are easy favorites, and she makes animal noises for Cow, Duck, Sheep, Pig, and Lion...I'm sure I'm forgetting others as well...like I said, she'll repeat almost anything (even Cantaloupe!) so it's hard to remember what she just repeats and what she actually says!

Macy is a little less inclined to say as many words, but she babbles plenty and definitely has mastered "Da" (Daddy), Mama, Dog, Ball, More, Bye Bye, Shoe, Up, and Out and will also walk around saying "Sit" all day.  (It's kind of funny, because it doesn't really sound just like "Sit", so we question ourselves quite frequently! :)  She also does plenty of repeating after us too...just not as eagerly and consistently as her sister.  Where she lacks in vocabulary, however, she thrives in her sense of adventure.  Macy is not afraid to climb up or go head first into anything...which explains why she is constantly bumped and bruised...and she's mastered the art of coming down the stairs without really touching a single step...she slides flat on her belly!  It's amazing how quick she moves!  (and nerve-wracking!) 

BOTH girls are turning into hopeless DADDY'S GIRLS, too, which is the greatest, most endearing, awesome...and MOST ANNOYING thing EVER!!  :)  I LOVE to watch my little girls run to their daddy...and laugh hysterically at him...and play with him for hours...but it is a bit like a knife in the gut when they will literally leap from my arms...crawl across me...and shove me out of the way...just to get to him!!  Aaaarggh!!!

Besides all that, I've learned that with every new "milestone", there's something easier and something harder...and everyone tells me that NEVER changes...but, amazingly enough, it just gets better every day!!  :)

Corn on the Cob

Could anyone enjoy an ear of corn more?  Maybe you'll think they're boring, but these pictures crack me up...

Meet me in St Louis

Well, I promised it, but took a while to deliver...a summary of our trip to St Louis!  Let me start by saying it was an excellent trip, and, unfortunately, my pictures do not do it justice.  I missed out on some great photo ops with family that we don't see very often...let me justify it by blaming it on pure exhaustion...traveling with 1 year olds is not NEARLY as hard as traveling with 2 six month olds...but it's still not easy!  Luckily, I had EXCELLENT help!

Anyway, we've been trying for a while to figure out how to work in a trip so the girls could meet members of their family that they hadn't been able to meet yet.  With our busy lives, it's just hard to figure out an ideal time to make a trip to the other side of the Mississippi...when we started thinking about doing it over the Kansas City race weekend, all logistics seemed to make sense...except the fact that I knew I couldn't do the airplane trip solo, so we were able to (easily) recruit Mimi, and everything went like clock work from there.  Gary left on Thursday for Kansas City, then rented a car and drove over so he could meet us at the airport on Friday afternoon.  Marian came into town late Thursday night and we got up Friday morning and hit the road.  I am THRILLED (and a little bit surprised) to say that our trip couldn't have been better!  The girls were in great moods and handled the airport and the plane ride like pros.  We were all getting a little bit cranky when our plane was an hour late to leave, but that turned out to be our biggest problem, so I'd call it a success!  Coming home was even easier, and both babies even squeezed in a few zzz's, much to my surprise!

When we landed in STL, we hit the ground running...we went straight to lunch with Grandpa Ken, Great Grandpa Don, and Aunt Sis.  It was such a whirlwind lunch (with 2 tired little ladies) that I didn't get pictures, but I have some coming from Don and Ken's recent visit to our house...after lunch, we headed to the hotel and crossed our fingers that the girls would be tired enough to pass out in a strange place for a couple of hours.  No such luck, so we packed them in the car and headed to our "1st Dinner" with Uncle Kevin and his lovely family.  It was so great to see them, since Gary and I hadn't even seen them in at least 10 years!!!  It was a very nice visit, except that Macy had kind of hit her limits for "sitting pretty", and Gary and I had to work pretty hard to keep her from causing a scene!  After that meal, the fun wasn't over, since we were already a few hours late for a party (and "2nd Dinner"...IMO'S, of course) at Aunt Sally's!  Luckily, even as tired as they were, the girls were happy to have some time to run around and play, and LOVED the car and bubble-blowing lawn mower that awaited them.  Aunt Sally had also bought a few toys for the girls, and they loved playing with those and the dogs before finally passing out for the night.  We put them to sleep so we could hang out with the adults for a while, then headed back to the hotel...WHEW...what a day!!!

The next morning, we headed to Sainte Genevieve to see Great-Grandma Carol and John, and were able to squeeze in one more visit with Aunt Sis as well.  The girls had a WONDERFUL time.  Ma had bought all kinds of toys and books to play with, and the girls enjoyed those, as well as the unexpected favorite toy, the new doggie stairs to help Honey (the dog) get onto the bed easier.  Macy and Makayla were thrilled that they could practice their stair obsession in the bedroom AND the living room, and just couldn't get enough!  After a great lunch and playtime, of course we had to eat more, so we all had dessert and the girls enjoyed snacks at the big table with Grandma!  When the need for naps overtook us, we again packed up the car and headed back to St Louis. 

Since this weekend also just happened to be the weekend for the Christening of Gary's cousin Rachel's new little one, Nathan, Mimi headed to the services.  We knew the girls weren't quite ready to sit quietly through full Catholic mass (nor were we, to be honest! :)) so we decided to find other ways to fill up our time.  We decided to make the quickest trip on record through the St Louis Zoo.  By this point in the day, it was quite chilly, the girls were quite tired and grumpy, and apparently most of the animals were cold too, so they'd gone in for the day.  We practically ran to the various corners of the zoo to try to find the most exciting animals, but when we arrived to an empty space after about 5 tries, we finally decided to call it a day and get in the car to get warm! 

After that, we grabbed dinner, then headed to Rachel's house to have one more quick visit with the gang.  The girls were bashful at first, but then decided they just didn't care anymore and spent the entire time just wandering around among the grown ups...as long as no one besides us or Mimi tried to pick them up!  You'd have thought they owned the place!  :)  We were able to meet little Nathan very quickly, the girls got to meet a lot of new family, and then we headed to the hotel to crash.

Sunday morning, we got up fairly early to catch our flight out and Daddy headed back to KC.  We were back at home by 1pm, so it was a short day, and the girls were home in time to eat lunch and NAP!!!

It was a great trip, and hopefully our next trip won't be so long from now...we also hope everyone else will come visit us soon too!  ;)

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!  :)