Fun with Mimi and Aunt Miss

The girls got the pleasure of a visit with Mimi and Aunt Miss this weekend, and boy did they LOVE it!!  Unfortunately, I didn't get ANY pictures with Aunt Miss, but I did manage to get some cute shots of playtime with Mimi and their "cool dudes" (that's what they call sunglasses! :) before she left this morning!   

Thanks for the visit, and extra thanks to Mimi for babysitting last night so that we could attend our friend Ashley's awesome 40th birthday party!  Good times for all!

SO much fun, why would we need to sleep??

Gary lucked out this weekend and got a very unusual weekend off right when race season is just starting to pick up, so we took advantage of the free time and our "free" boat (Gary takes care of Greg's boat so that we can use it when he's not able to) in Charleston and took the girls for a little weekend adventure! 

Last summer, we used the boat's proximity for several quick "adults only" trips to the fun city, but we decided we needed to "orient" the girls to life at sea, and it was time to bring them along!  Unfortunatley, Gary is going back down this week to take the boat up to NC so that Greg can do some fishing in a couple of weeks, so it was our last chance to "do Charleston" from our "floating accomodations"!

After a fairly quick trip down..some screaming, but some decent naps and lots of Elmo along the way...we made it to the boat around 4 on Friday, and the girls were rested and ready to play!  They're at the age, right now, where few things allure them as much as climbing "structures" and eventful "walks", so a trip down the docks and onto "Little Loose" at City Marina did the trick!  Mommy entertained while Daddy took care of a few things on the boat.  We wondered around the docks, clowned around dancing and testing out the fishing gear on the boat, then we headed downtown for dinner.  After dinner, we made a quick stop at The Candy Kitchen before heading back and "attempting to" settle in for the night.  The girls LOVED sharing a chocolate covered pretzel with me, then Gary treated them to a caramel apple just before bed...which MAY have had something to do with their reluctance to go to sleep...just maybe...

In reality, there was just too much fun to be had, and there was such a high risk that they'd miss something, plus, this was the first real "sleepover" that the girls have had in the same bed since they were about 2 months old...so the attitude was "party down" way before "settle down".  Gary and I spent our share of time in the bed trying to get them to relax, and Macy finally gave in, but Makayla took quite a while and put up quite a fight!  Poor baby was exhausted and finally literally screamed herself to sleep...even with me lying right beside her!  Despite the previous night's rumble, the next morning everyone woke up in good spirits and we went to our usual Marina Restaurant for breakfast. 

The weather was PERFECT, and after wondering around on the docks for a while, as usual, I'm up for some quality exercise.  I'm DRAGGING (literally) Gary with me and a big group of friends to run the Cooper River Bridge 10k in April, so we decided to give the bridge a shot.  Let me tell you, that puppy is STEEP!  As planned, we cut the distance in half and only attempted 3 miles (WITH stroller) which consisted of running straight up, then straight back down...what a WORKOUT!  Stubborn me insisted on pushing the stroller the whole way, and I had to summon God for some extra oxygen at the top :), but we took a quick photo op and the run down was cake!  I was so excited by the fact that we survived, but I'm still pretty intimidated by doing that (sans stroller, of course) and packing in 3 more miles in just a few short weeks.  Gary's got every bar along the route mapped out, and I will not be at all surprised if I loose him during the race to find him at one of those.  He's a good sport but is the first to admit his lack of love for running.

After our run, we stopped and had a PB&J picnic in the car for the girls, headed back to the boat for showers, and then planned to hit the aquarium or downtown...unfortunately, we ended up with some VERY TIRED little ladies, and our expectation of a quick nap in the car was not met, so we went to eat a late lunch and at the end of that, the girls kind of melted down...luckily it was already around 5, so we made a couple of quick stops and headed back to the boat.  After another unsuccessful attempt at a quick nap, we finally packed up the car and headed to get the girls a quick bite of dinner...the poor things were asleep before we made it to Mickie D's, so they missed their first-ever chance at a Happy Meal (you know it was an "usual" circumstance if Mommy is willing to resort to that!).  We came back to the boat, and after only a short protest, they were sleeping peacefully!  Luckily, the chaos was fairly short-lived so Gary and I were able to grab take out and enjoy a movie and a couple of glasses of wine before we all caught a good night's sleep!

This morning has been fairly low key...we went for more breakfast...(Reading this it seems like ALL we've done is eat, which is about right, but we've had lots of nice walks around the boats and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and each other's company in between!) We were going to take the girls out on the beach on the way out, but the beach was still fogged in, so now we're headed home.  We did manage to find a great little Chuck-E-Cheese-like place to grab lunch in Columbia, and the girls were happy to "stretch their legs" and practice their driving skills.  We were happy that their food was a million times better than Chuck's. 

We've had our moody moments, but over all, we've had PERFECT weather and just enjoyed a wonderful trip.  The girls have been great sports and seem to grab onto at least a little bit of our love of the water and boats.  We're looking forward to many water-bound adventures ahead!

Healthy Toddlers

Today was a tough day, since Gary had to fly at the last minute, and I had to take the girls to their 18 month doctor visit myself...but, with a few bandaids and battle scars, we all survived.  Here are our stats...

Makayla
Length = 33.75 inches - 95th percentile
Weight = 23 lbs, 8 oz - 25-50th percentile
Head Circumference = 48 cm - 75-90th percentile
 
Macy
Length = 32.75 inches -75th percentile
Weight = 25 lbs, 1 oz - 50 - 75th percentile
Head Circumference = 50 cm - < 95th percentile

After all of the standard questions, measures, and shots, the girls left with an excellent health report again...and the good news is, this is our LAST round of shots until they're FOUR YEARS OLD!  That makes me SO HAPPY!  I HATE those things!

Daddy's Funny Valentines!

The girls had a fun day at school yesterday, and I was able to pick them up a little bit early so we could all meet Daddy back at home, where he surprised us with flowers, candy, balloons and stuffed animals!! 

The girls got to taste their first dark chocolate (Mommy's treat, which Makayla loved, but Macy did not!) and their Valentine peeps from Ma and John (which they BOTH loved!) 

They girls received cute pajamas from Ma and John as well (which we failed to get pics of when Makayla opened the box the other day and immediately made us put them on OVER her clothes) and cards and piggy money from Aunt Sally and Mamaw and Papaw!  Thanks to everyone for the gifts!!!

Later that evening, Gary and I were fortunate to have Mamaw and Papaw come over to babysit so that we could sneak in a special Valentine's dinner...hope everyone was able to enjoy the day as much as we did! 

18 Months and Hitting the Gym

I took the opportunity to take a couple of closeups of the girls this afternoon to mark their official 18 month milestone!  They had an extremely silly day today, and showed a little of that for the camera!  I missed posting on the official date (yesterday) because our camera had mysteriously disappeared, but luckily I was able to dig it out of the hole daddy had stashed it in this evening, and was able to steal a couple of (very informal...and a little bit snotty) shots.  It is UNREAL to believe it has been 18 whole months!  I CAN NOT imagine life without these 2 silly girls!  :)

This morning the girls and I took an adventure to The Gym Company in Mooresville for a "social event" for our Mothers of Multiples group.  I put that in quotes because, at our age, there's not a whole lot of "socializing", but instead, a lot of "synchronized playing" instead!  I do enjoy the chance to interact with other twin moms, though, so it's not completely a wasted social cause.  (Sorry for the blurry phone pics...this morning I was still missing the camera!)

I was a little bit hesitant to bother with this one, given the failure of our previous trip to the "big kid" gym for Haley's birthday in October.  However, I figured we had a few more months under our belt, and this was a much more optimal time (before naps, instead of right in the middle of a "car version" of an otherwise missed nap).  It took a few minutes for the girls to get comfortable, but before long, they were crawling, sliding, jumping, rolling around, and just having a GREAT time!  The girls were even more thrilled when Mamaw met them at the gym!  By the end, they were hungry and POOPED, so we packed it up and headed to Chick-fil-a for a quick visit with the cow, (who Makayla waved at and let get close to her for the first time ever!) some nuggets, fries, and ice cream, and headed home to crash!

This afternoon, after a nice long nap, the girls and I met our friend Leigh at the park for a nice walk.  It was a beautiful day!  A little colder than I thought, and the girls ended up with "frost-bitten" hands, but luckily we were able to quickly warm them up with the technique daddy has taught us...

What a fun "Girls' Day"!

Lazy Days of Winter

I know summer is the season when laziness is suppose to kick in, but I have to say, with 2 little ones, a COLD snowy winter, a Daddy who travels, and a couple of rounds of feverish viruses, our January has been pretty pathetic! 

After all of the excitement of the holidays, it was actually nice having a few days to hang around the house before starting back into the real world.  About the most photo-worthy event was the girls wearing my jackets around the house and hanging out in the laundry basket to entertain themselves...fortunately, we do have a lot of great new toys as well, so the girls played with those...maybe a little too much!!  :)

We survived through "the great snowstorm" of 2011 (hopefully that's the only one, but I'm knocking on wood as I type) and unfortunately for our girls, Mommy and Daddy were not very prepared.  We treked out in the snow to every store we could get to trying to find snow-worthy footgear, only to end up with a couple of pairs of rainboots, one of which was a whole size too big...After layering up in our gear, we headed out into the white yonder...and made it about as far as the sidewalk, walked around a little more, took a few dives, and decided it was time to come in.  I still feel like we somehow deprived our little ones of really enjoying the snowy adventure, but we didn't have sleds and the girls didn't really seem to love being that cold (and neither did I), so we just returned to our layer and called it a day...I wish I had more enthusiasm for the winter wonderland scene, but it's not a surprise that my heart belongs to summer!

After the snow melted, Gary had to leave for the better part of the last 2 weeks, and what an interesting 2 weeks it's been!  I've dove right into a CRAZY amount of work and stress, the girls had a bit of an adjustment to being in daycare ALL day every day, and then both of them ended up getting pretty sick...Macy's started last Friday, Makayla's almost EXACTLY a week later (yesterday morning!)  They have been pitiful, and after a typical trip to the doctor, we found that there was nothing we could do but lay low, feed plenty of fluids and tylenol, and wait it all out.  I'm SO ready to see my little ones back to themselves again!

We did make a quick trip to a birthday party this morning for our little friend Emme...the party was at Ben and Jerry's, and the girls got to tie-dye shirts, color pictures of COWS, and Macy had some delicious Ice Cream cake.  Unfortunately, Makayla started feeling pretty bad again while we were there, so she didn't get to really enjoy the party, and we're now back at home napping and trying to recover...and counting down the hours until Spring!!

Christmas Past

I apologize for being SO far behind on my updates.  I started back to work full time on January 3, so life is flying by at the speed of light while I work a lot of hours and attempt to develop some sort of routine! So let me begin by getting back into the Christmas spirit for a minute...

As previously mentioned, Christmas Day was SO MUCH fun!!  I figured I'd start with a little more detail around the big day...Fortunately for us, over our long Christmas "break" from work, the girls developed a (short-lived) habit of sleeping in until close to 7:30!  Christmas was no different, but, as with many mornings Macy woke up before Makayla.  We got Macy out of bed and kept her upstairs to change her diaper, hoping Makayla would hurry and wake up and we'd bring them both down to see what Santa had left for them.  Macy is quick, though, and as soon as she was changed, she peaked downstairs just enough that her new aquisition had caught her eye...and she couldn't stop staring!  Fortunately, Makayla quickly woke up and we headed down to go through our loot. 

The day after Christmas, we had planned to leave to go to Gainesville to visit Gary's side of the family.  We had an unusually white Christmas this year, and due to the crazy weather, we decided to postpone the trip by a day so it wouldn't be quite as bumpy of a ride.  We were happy to make it to church that day, then spent a lazy day at home enjoying our new toys, and woke up early Monday morning to start our trip. 

We again were able to appreciate Gary's ability to turn a 4 hour drive into a quick 1 hour flight, and headed to our usual lunch at Mellow Mushroom so we could meet up with the rest of the family.  Mimi, Grandpa, Great-Grandma and Grandpa Wibbenmeyer, Aunt Melissa and Aunt Sabrina all met us there, and the girls finally got to meet their new cousin NOAH!  Unfortunately, we found out that Haley was sick with the flu, and she had to stay home and miss the first couple of nights of the party.  The girls were thrilled to see their family, and had a great time bonding with all, especially Mimi, over the next few days!

We also had the chance to visit with Aunt Sheryl a few times, and then on Wednesday, the girls had the rare chance to spend time with Uncle Jason, Aunt Jen, and their cousins Reganne and Riley!  Fortunately, Haley was well enough to come up at this point too, and family friends Zoe, Elie, Taleen, and Bryce came up for dinner, so the party was ON!!  The girls all had a great time playing together, and Macy and Makayla spent lots of time checking in on the new little guy as well.  Oddly enough, one of their favorite things to do was to play in his pack and play and climb in and out of his swing...who'da knew?  :)

The girls got MORE awesome gifts, so many, in fact, that we had to leave them at Mimi's so that she could send them home with Mamaw and Papaw when they returned from visiting with Nathan, Lauren, and Emmy Cate. One of Makayla's favorites was an adorable dress from Mimi that she had to immediately put on to push her new grocery cart around the room!  Yes, the girls got 2 more grocery carts, so they are now happily able to push their carts through every corner of our house, dropping off all of the plastic and cardboard food goodies in every crevace...thank you Aunts Lauren and Sabrina!  :)  The girls really do LOVE all of their gifts!

After a few days of fun, it was time to head home on Thursday, so we packed up after naps and made the quick trip home in time to have dinner with Mamaw and Papaw before dragging home two very sleepy babies .  It was such a great trip, and was a nice trip to wrap up our holiday celebration.

While the girls have been too little this year to really understand all of the craziness and why we do all of the things that we do, they have had a great time opening up gifts and spending time with family.  We had so much fun experiencing Christmas again through the eyes of a child, and while we know every Christmas from now to the rest of our lives will be different and in some ways better than the year before, we did our best to stop and appreciate this precious age.  Since I know I'll forget, some of my favorite things that I hope to never forget were...the gleam in their eyes every single morning when they came out of their rooms and immediately found and announced the LIGHTS on the Christmas tree...the way they made a point of kissing the tree and telling it "Bye, Bye" every time we left the house...the fact that they LOVED talking about Santa and to point to his picture, but don't let the real guy ANYWHERE near them...the way they intensely listened to the Christmas story every single night around the holidays, and always self-initiated "rock"ing "baby Jesus" when the story was over...watching our first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with them while putting up the Christmas tree (previous blog)...and the way they danced to their kid's Christmas CD...especially Makayla's "robot" dance to "Must be Santa Claus".  This we know...it IS a wonderful life!