The Scogins Family

Wow. It's been 2 months?!?!

2011-11-16T00:53:00.000-06:00

Hard to believe tonite when I pulled up my blog to see that it's been a whole 2 months since I wrote! So much to catch up on!

There seems to be a nasty spell on our house this week with sickness. Miss Caroline started it all Saturday evening being grumpy then waking up Sunday morning with a 102.3 fever. I called "oncall" and was told to bring her in. As it turns out her tubes have come out (it's been 11 months) and now she's got an ear infection in her left ear :( So sad. I feel so bad for her. She was absolutely pitiful! So, they put her on antibiotics and she was back at daycare today. She's MUCH better now! Carter though is running a fever now and not feeling well so I'll be taking him to walk-in tomorrow morning around 7am to see what he has. All of this and Alex has been sick as well. He keeps crying and saying his tummy hurts. It's so hard at this age to know if he's really sick or just wanting to get out of school... Chris stayed home with him today and my Mom will be watching him tomorrow and Mana will have Carterman.

Work is going well. We had our audit today and received an 8. Pretty good. A 10 is perfect and rarely do you see that. I'm so relieved to have it over until at least next year! Speaking of, can you believe it's almost a month before Christmas??? Crazy, right?

Things are going well for Chris and I. We took a wonderful vacation to Vegas about a month ago courtesy of State Farm. My awesome hubby received his CPCU designation and is now official! We had SO much fun! We were able to go with some of our best friends and kid free so it was awesome! It was hard to leave! We stayed at Caesars and spent one of our days exploring the Grand Canyon. It was incredibly beautiful and hard to wrap your brain around. I don't know if you can possibly take it all in. It's almost too much for your mind to conceive. Absolutely stunning. We definitely came back to reality really fast once we came home though! Ha! It was fun while it lasted though and reminded us of how much we still enjoy each other's company and our quiet times together!

Carter has finally started walking! Yay! I've got them walking into daycare everyday now to give them lots of practice! Plus it helps Mommy's back! Whew! They are still in the "baby" room for now but have been slowly transitioning to the next room. They've been taking naps in there to help them get adjusted. Hard to believe they're now 16 months old. Seems like just yesterday... We've made so much progress though, I can't imagine starting over!

Speaking of fresh starts, my brother and sister-in-law are preggers and expecting my first niece in January! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am! She will be Joanna (hope I'm spelling it right!) Dawn Keller. I can't wait to meet her and spoil her to death! It will be so nice to hold a new baby again :) Now mom will have 2 grandsons and 2 granddaughters! Perfect! I'm beyond excited! I know I drive Jen crazy but I just grin from ear to ear everytime I see that cute little belly! I can't wait to see her!

I've found myself lately loosening up a bit. Not quite as high strung as I once was. I don't know if it was Vegas, or age or what but I'm learning to appreciate every moment and do the things I truly WANT to do and now. There's no reason to wait. We're not guaranteed tomorrow and I want to go out smoking! (just an expression, Mom!) I don't want to ever have regrets. I've been blessed in the fact that I've been given second chances many times and I hope that I've taken the chance to appreciate that. You think you're bulletproof in your high school years but really those are the years that are molding you into who you will be later in life. Enjoy yourself and don't take anything for granted. Sorry, getting off topic.

Things are good. Yes, kids are sick, I dropped my iphone 4 a few days ago and it basically exploded into tiny shards of glass so I had to go purchase a new phone (both good and bad I guess), work is stressful as it is with anyone, family life is hectic and I feel that I don't spend near enough time with the ones I love. If only there were more hours in the day. It's 12:12am Wednesday morning and I should be in bed sleeping but lately I've found that this is the time I enjoy the most. The time I have to myself. I can watch whatever I want on tv, read, blog, chat, whatever I want without being "touched" or "pulled on". It's these times of night I think when I'm my happiest :) When nothing HAS to get done. There's no rush to get kids ready and out the door, no appts to get to, no nothing. Just ME time. Time to do whatever I want.

Well, that's plenty for one night...

Love,
E

Holding pattern...

2011-09-13T22:32:00.000-05:00

I feel lately like we've been in a holding pattern. The budget isn't good but isn't awful either. We're keeping our heads above water. Barely. We've had so much medical debt lately it's been crazy! We have good insurance but we've also had ALOT going on with several family surgeries this year and lots of doctor's visits and LOTS of medications. Sometimes I wish we could just fast forward 3 months and see that we'll be ok. I know we will. God always provides for our "needs". Maybe not all of our "wants" but all of our needs. We've been blessed that we've never done without. We have a beautiful home, 2 paid for cars and good jobs. 3 things we should be incredibly grateful for.

But I still have that pit of dread in my tummy. I am the family worrier though (I get it from Mom!). I think Chris and I are a great team. It seems that when I get worried about something Chris is more at ease and able to reassure me and vice versa. However, as he sleeps (snoring!) on the couch beside me, we were both concerned tonite and looking for ways to cut back. There's just not alot of "fat" in our budget. I called and cancelled HBO and told them that we wanted to switch to basic cable and was told that the package we currently have is actually cheaper (we are on a promo rate plan for the next 6 months). I dropped HBO but that only saves $10/month. Not enough to even make a dent. The babies are off formula and that's helping a TON but we're still going thru about 125 diapers a week!

Tonite's post is just me getting some things off my chest. I have no doubt that we'll get thru this fine. Everyone has their days though. I guess today's mine.

Next week Caroline will be moved up at daycare. She'll be moving to the other building to the room all the way at the end. I know she'll be fine but it's also hard because Carter will not be moving with her. She's been walking for a few weeks now and he's not started yet so they'll be keeping him in the baby room until he does. Needless to say we've been working with him ALOT to get him walking! I never thought I would have such a distinct opinion on this but I do. I don't want them separated. I want them to always have each other to lean on. However I have been told as well that it's good to separate twins so that they learn things on their own instead of relying on their sibling to do it for them. I agree but it doesn't make it any easier.

Well, it's after 10:30p now and I'll be up early to take kiddos to school. Hopefully a good nights rest will put a new perspective on things :)

Love,
E

Just another day

2011-09-05T20:35:00.000-05:00

What an icky day today turned out to be! It rained all day long :( The kids were little monsters and Caroline has been clinging to me like a little spider monkey. It was nice to nap with my favorite snuggle buddy Alex today though :) I love him so much! It makes me sad to think that soon he will be too old for naps and won't want to nap with me. But hopefully by then I'll have 2 little ones anxious to snuggle!

I'm sitting here on the couch thinking about how I need to wash my hair and just go to bed but my butt just won't get off the couch! I feel like I could just roll over and sleep right here on the couch. This damn rainy weather! It absolutely kills my motivation!

Tomorrow's bound to be a busy day after today's holiday so I'd better figure out a way to get off the couch...

Love,
E

Thirty-one!

2011-08-31T15:31:00.002-05:00

I am now an official consultant for Thirty-one! Please visit my website www.mythirtyone.com/scogins to see all that we have to offer or send me an email 31@scogins.com!

Love,
E

Welcome back!

2011-08-31T15:30:00.001-05:00

Wow! It's been a while!

So much has happened since August 2nd!

I think I'm finally feeling like my old self again. Work will be work and babies will scream, but at the day's end, I will be o.k. The ironic thing is that all of these challenges have happened since Dad's death 4/8/11. So I feel deep down inside that I need to work thru some grief issues with that. So, that being said, I sat down a few days ago and wrote a letter to him. One that will never be mailed but will stay with me forever... I spilled my heart and the tears flowed like crazy. I didn't have any big epiphanies (I think I spelled that right) like I was hoping but I did get alot out that's been grating on me like crazy lately. I can't say I felt "better" after that but at least I got it out. I know the grieving process takes about a year because you have a year of first's but it seems to be moving slower with me. We've had alot of big things happen since Dad passed. First, our 1st Father's Day without him, then my Mom & Dad's 47th wedding anniversary, then Dad's 70th birthday and then the twins 1st birthday. To say it's been stressful would be an understatement. It's been stressful immensely for my sweet hubby who has been putting up with my crazy self for the past (almost) 5 months. I pray that God will help me to move on with my life and grieve less and less as the days pass. I have a family to take care of and a full time job to do... Now on to the fun stuff!

Alex started kindergarten this month! He's such a big boy now! It's hard to believe that I'm the parent of a student! Man, makes me feel old :) He has loved every minute of school and is in a wonderful after school program that allows us to pick him up by 6pm. He's doing great and flourishing just like he should :) He's even lost 2 teeth (and now one of his permanent teeth is coming in on the bottom) and is also cutting his 6 year molars! He's growing up so fast!

First tooth lost! He got $5! Imagine his disappointment when the tooth fairy only gave him a buck for the next ones!

Don't ever buy a cake with black icing! Happy 5th big boy!

Mommy missed this because of work but Daddy, Nana and Mana were all there!

Of course I monogrammed it! And his sleep towel too!

My sweet little boy on his 1st day of school!

The twins are sweet as ever! Little Caroline is working on her 6th tooth as we speak and walking around like crazy! It's hard to believe where we were just a year ago! Little Carter is working on his 1st tooth and for the moment has no interest in walking but is thoroughly enjoying crawling REALLY fast!

Well, Carter is up from his nap and it's time for his afternoon snack :) Wish me luck tomorrow on my first day back!

I know I'll do fine, but a little luck never hurt anyone :)

Love,

Priorities

2011-08-02T22:17:00.000-05:00

I think I'm finally beginning to grasp the importance of priorities. It's not a top priority that the living room gets picked up every nite. It's not a priority that laundry is washed, dried and folded every day.

Today was a great day. My sweet husband took off today to spend the day with me. We had breakfast together (I had my first mimosa! Then ran some errands and ended up with a few doctor's appointments. It was not exactly the day I wanted to spend with my hubby but it was nice to spend the day with him regardless.

Today was Alex's 2nd day at Scales ESP (Extended School Program) and he is absolutely loving it! I'm so glad :)

I'm hoping my days will be looking up over the next week or so. My doctors have made some changes and hopefully I'll be feeling more like myself soon :)

Well, it's getting close to bedtime so I'd better go. Here are some pics from the last few days :)

Love,
E

Birthday Blessings...

2011-08-01T23:09:00.000-05:00

Well, we made it. There were several occasions that we were afraid we might not and if not for some very loving, helpful friends we may not have. First and foremost, thank you to all of our families and closest friends who were there for us when we truly needed it. As Walter Winchell put it, "A friend is one who walks in when others walk out." There were many days I was surprised people even wanted to come over. I felt like all we had was a messy house and screaming babies! Now, a year later, I know that's how it's supposed to be. Houses are never spotless (and true friends really don't care) and babies will always scream. Usually at the most inopportune time. Funny how you learn these lessons too late :) I guess it's so we can raise our children and grandchildren and help them though.

Work has been the same. Tomorrow is a day of doctor's appointments. Chris is taking the day off to spend with me :) So we'll probably have lunch before my first appointment, then my sweet friend Brooklyn is coming over to trim my hair (yay! So excited to find someone I like so much and is so good with my hair! And she lives just down the street!) then (honestly) take a nap. Trust me, without kids in the house it really is nice to just sleep! Then we'll be off to Franklin for some afternoon appointments. Nana and Aunt Leslie will be coming over to watch A and the twinkies.

Ok, I'm literally falling asleep typing this, so without further ado, here are some pics of the twins 1st birthday taken by our (incredibly talented friend and neighbor, Jay Parr). Enjoy!

Love,

Decisons, decisons...

2011-07-31T23:02:00.000-05:00

These past few weeks have been really rough on me. I've had struggles in just about all aspects of my life.

I feel like since the twins were born I have become a whole different person. And not necessarily a good one. I'm stressed now. I'm frustrated now (things aren't done the way the way I was used to). I'm angry. My babies are growing up so fast and I feel like I'm missing it. Alex will be starting kindergarden in just a couple of weeks and the twins just turned 1!

Some of you know (because I love you and depend on your support) that I've been having trouble at work. I've narrowed the "issues" I've been having down to April. My first slip up came March 30th then the rest of them all occurred after April 8th. The day my Dad died. I feel a little better every day (it seems) about Dad's death but I truly believe that down deep I'm not anywhere near where I need to be.

Well, that's all for now...

Love,
E

July 2011

2011-07-28T22:15:00.000-05:00

July was a BUSY month for us! We had SO much going on! Here are just a few snapshots from our adventures!

June 2011

2011-07-28T21:59:00.000-05:00

June was actually alot more calm...

Our little graduate and Daddy!

Alex and his best friend Nate!

His party pool Nana gave him for graduation!

Just some twinky time : )

Doesn't he look innocent?

Nana's new playset for her backyard!

May 2011

2011-07-28T21:48:00.000-05:00

For some reason all of my blogs seem to start with the same sentence. It's been a while :)

Let's see what's happened since our last posts...

May was a busy month of fun!

Yummo blueberry pancakes at The Readyville Mill!

Flirting her way to someone else's food!

Alex's waterslide at his 5th birthday!

The "Mommy Zone"

Uncle J.J. has the special touch :)

I see teeth!

I finally did it :)

1 tooth down!

A new day...

2011-07-28T21:08:00.001-05:00

***(This blog was written on 7/12 but never got posted...so here it is!)***

Wow. It's been a while. I had no idea it had been so long since I've blogged.

Alot has been going on! I'm dealing alot better with the loss of Dad. I still have many moments when I just lose it but overall it's gotten MUCH better. We've had several events lately (Mom and Dad's 47 wedding anniversary, Father's Day then what would've been Dad's 70th birthday) and those have been hard. I came across some pictures of Dad's grave as it looks now. It was so hard to look at. Just red clay with some grass growing in. It's so hard (SO HARD) for me to think about it. I'd rather just push it to the back of my head and envelope myself in the daily grind that is our life. But I know that's not what I should be doing but it's so much easier. Mom and I ordered Dad's headstone the other day and that was incredibly sobering. I had to give the company Dad's date of birth and date of death. It literally took me a minute to process that. It's still hard to believe he's gone. I am blessed with great friends yet most of the time I feel totally alone in this. I have a good friend that lost her mother a year and a half ago and we got together a couple weeks ago and unintentionally ended up having a mini grief session. It was so nice. That's what I need. I need people that know what I'm going through to understand and know what to say. It's not that I don't need others as well but it's so nice when someone knows exactly what I'm going through. We might have to schedule more of those :)

On a more positive note, the twins will be one in just 1 week! Can you believe it? We SURVIVED the first year! YEAH! We will be celebrating with a grill out at our place on the 23rd! We're having a bounce house and all! Our theme is "2 peas in a pod" so everything will be based around that :)

Love,
E

Homework

2011-05-26T22:34:00.000-05:00

Today was a good day. Actually, it was a great day. God answered a prayer for me today. I put my problems in His hands and He made the decision how to handle them. Well, He always makes the decisions but this time I actually let go and waited (albeit not patiently!). It's probably the hardest thing I've done in a while. If you read my last post or know me at all you've caught on that I'm a little bit of a control freak :)

I love taking pictures of the clouds.
They remind me that there is always a rainbow after the rain...

I was thinking tonite about my sister in law and smiling :) It's so nice to see the ones you love truly happy. I wasn't planning on blogging tonite but instead was going to catch up on her blogs and do some "homework". I have a link to her blog on my browser and when I clicked on it tonite I never could have imagined what I would read...

Some things never change
SO I come to my keyboard tonight drained and a little blank. Today my Father in Law had a stroke and the resulting damage could hamper his quality of life. I don't know the extent to which his body is damaged but his spirit is inspiring. Whatever its borne of, he has a grin plastered on his face and is chuckling and cutting up with loved ones through his tense desire to get home. His spirit is undaunted by his health, he is wanting to get up and run down the halls. As fustrating as that is, it is also reassuring. His core is still with us and intact, and as unforgettable and as strong of a character as he is, it seems as if his strength transcends and will always be with us thankfully. Its just the way he is. Some things will never change. He must have done a few things really right in his life to produce the two grown adults that I call my husband and sister in law. I'm glad beyond belief that his light gets to shine in our lives for a while longer.

Wow. Wasn't expecting that. As it turns out apparently it took me to a blog post in March. I fully anticipated reading uplifting, happy thoughts and rambles from her :) She's a beautifully talented artist. In many ways. She's one of those people that can just sit down and write and it comes out flawlessly. At least that's the way I picture it. It definitely brought me back to the present.

Yet again, tonite I'm avoiding what I should be doing. This is not what I intended on doing tonite but I just had to talk this through after reading Jen's post from March, so thanks for being my sounding board. I pray that this will get easier on me. Everyone says it will. And I want to believe them but I can't imagine ever "getting over" these emotions. Right now I'm trusting in my doctors that they know how to guide me through this and doing my "homework" from them by journaling (believe it or not, this is not my actual journal...that's private!) nightly. It's incredibly hard to face these feelings head on but I'm forcing myself to do it. I will always love and miss Dad but hopefully I won't have these daily crying sessions...

I have laundry in the washer and dryer, bottles to wash and fill, vacuuming to do, and a host of other things I'm sure I could come up with in no time. I'm good at that. Why is it that I always tend to wait until the last possible minute to get something done? It's almost like a rush of adrenaline. Anyways, I'm rambling. I've got some "homework" to do...

Love,

Memories...

2011-05-24T22:32:00.000-05:00

My heart has been heavy today with thoughts of my Dad.

Everyone has their own way of coping with things. I like to be in control of everything. I like lists. I like organized things. I like order. I don't like feeling out of control. However this is exactly how I feel about Dad's death. It's like a bad dream. I keep catching myself pushing the reality of him being gone back down under everything else in my head so I don't have to deal with it. I don't want to think about it. I don't want to accept it. I know that when I start dealing with these feelings and "grieving" I'll be able to move past this and move on. Part of me doesn't want to move on. I want to live in my little bubble where everything is organized and clean and perfect. And Dad is his fussy old self. He's mowing the lawn or reloading shotgun shells or painting something. He's busy. He's always busy. He's always moving. I think that must be where I get that from. He has a huge heart underneath a shy shell.

Starting tonite I'm forcing myself to confront this. Head on. I can only avoid this for so long. It's time to start the healing process. It will be a long process. I have so many memories and thoughts to sort through. He was a wonderful Dad and loved me and Bobby with his whole heart. He was incredibly proud of us.

Tonite I take my strength from Alex who, at only 5 years old, knows where "Papa" is. The other night, in the middle of dinner, Alex looked up at me and (out of nowhere) said, "Mom, Papa's in my heart". It took everything in me to keep it together but it's true. He's in all of our hearts. I'm blessed to have had 32 years with my Dad. I love him with my whole heart and he knows it. And every time I hear the thunder I'll think of Papa shooting skeet :)

Love,
E

Talent

2011-05-16T22:51:00.000-05:00

I am utterly exhausted and about to fall asleep typing this but I just HAD to post some pictures from this past weekend. Jen came over Saturday afternoon after I got off work to work on a mural for the nursery. I had mentioned a while back that I'd like to have maybe a tree painted on one of the walls... Just a vague conversation (she's an immensely talented artist). Well, I was COMPLETELY OVERWHELMED AND TAKEN ABACK by how BEAUTIFUL it all turned out! And it was done 100% freehand! She sent me several sketches to choose from and we went from there... Enjoy the pics :)

My choices...

I chose #1!

She made it look SO easy! Free handing it the whole way!

A wanted to paint SO BAD!!!

The twins observe...

Finishing touches...

Finally finished with the masterpiece after just 6 hours :)

Teeth!

2011-05-11T18:57:00.000-05:00

Well, today was Caroline's day to shine :) She's finally cutting her two bottom teeth and her little sandy blonde hair is coming in as well! Enjoy the pics!

You can barely see them but there's two little teeth poking through :)

Oh, the HORROR!

I promise we weren't torturing her :)

She's not picking her nose...She got this pointing thing going on lately
she points that little finger at everything!

And FINALLY some hair!

Trying real carrots for the first time! A hit!

Like the peas last night, most of them ended up under her bottom! LOL!

SUCH a flirt!

He doesn't quite have that pincher grasp down yet! Ha!

Our beautiful babies are getting so big!

Oh, and a weight check just in case I forgot to tell you! Caroline is now 20.4lbs and Carter is 18.5lbs! Yay for little chunks!

Love,

Little Crawler!

2011-05-10T22:10:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not Carter Vance decided tonite was the night to start crawling! I am SO proud of him :) We had to lure him in with some "puffs" but still he crawled! And he even beat Caroline to the punch! Bet no one expected that one!

Go big man!

Love,

Fun times!

2011-05-10T20:57:00.000-05:00

Today we tried "real" food for the first time :) It was too cute!

Mmmm...Peas :)

They were a hit!

That look is because most of hers ended up in her seat instead of in her mouth!

Love,

Strep

2011-05-03T22:50:00.000-05:00

YUCK!

Strep has hit our house. Chris got it first last Tuesday. He started feeling crappy and finally left work early on Wednesday to see the doc. It was definitely strep. We cloroxed all the doorknobs and anything possible he touched in the house (and even slept in separate beds!) but somehow the next Sunday I started feeling crappy. Took my temp and it was 99 degrees but I had a sore throat and felt awful. So I went to the doc in the box, found out my fever was actually 103 and sure enough, it was strep. I came home but wasn't allowed to come within arms reach of anyone. It was crazy. I got a good nights sleep (not having to get up with babies) though... I felt somewhat better on Monday but was still contagious. Monday afternoon we got a call from daycare saying that Caroline was running a 103 degree fever and vomiting.

So this morning started off by taking both babies (just to be sure Carter didn't get it) to the pediatrician. Turns out Caroline does have strep but Carter doesn't (yet). He wrote prescriptions for Amoxicillin for both of them just precautionary for Carter. I spent the day taking care of them. Caroline was mostly sleepy and Carter was a total grouch.

Mom will be here tomorrow with Caroline but Carter and Alex will both be at school...And I'll be back at work :)

Well, that's all for now, it's bedtime!

Love,
E

I'm including some pictures from our Easter celebration and Bobby's birthday!

All tuckered out after playing outside!

Our sweet Caroline!

I love her expression in this one!

Brothers

Pulling all the candy out of the eggs!

Tornado Alley

2011-04-28T07:35:00.000-05:00

So yesterday our beautiful street was hit by what we believe was a tornado... Here are some pictures from our neighborhood. Luckily we sustained pretty minor damage.

Love,
E

Big Plans!

2011-04-16T21:34:00.000-05:00

For the nursery!

I am incredibly blessed with an insanely talented sister (in-law) :) Just last nite she painted a beautiful picture for her dining room. She was over tonite and I was griping about how I can't figure out how to decorate the nursery. I have furniture but nothing on the walls yet. I just can't get inspired. Well, she suggested some beautiful ideas and she has offered to help! I'm not giving it away just yet but let me just say we have some great ideas :) I can't wait!!!

Love ya Jen Jen!

Twin Tub

2011-04-14T22:32:00.000-05:00

Tonite was the first nite the twins took a bath together in the sink. While we were in Mobile I bought a rubber mat to put in the sink so they wouldn't slip and slide around and tonite we used it for the first time :) They were adorable!

Twin shampoos...

I think Caroline wanted to drink the water :)

Happy babies!

Notice they are holding on with the same hand...

My beautiful babies!

Sand Babies...

2011-04-14T22:28:00.000-05:00

I couldn't wait to post these pictures of our sweet babies. It was "challenging" to say the least taking them to Mobile for a week. It was the first time they travelled that far and they met much of my family in Mobile...

Regrets...

2011-04-14T22:13:00.000-05:00

We're finally back home in the beautiful hills of Tennessee and I was thinking tonite about everything that's happened over the past few weeks.

There are few things in life we can say we know for sure. I know for sure that I am married to the love of my life; I know for sure that I love watermelon (especially Grand Bay ones...); and I know for sure that I have no regrets when it comes to my Daddy. That's what I called him. Even at 32 years old he was still my "Daddy". I can't even begin to tell you how much my heart hurts for him. We always had a special bond. I remember to this day telling Mom (when I got in trouble) that "I'm gonna tell my Daddy if you spank me"! It used to drive Mom nuts :) I'm sure Caroline will be the same way one day.

I can also say though that I have NO regrets when it comes to my Daddy. He knew I loved him with all my heart. He was a good man. He had a beautiful smile. He had an incredible sense of humor. I remember the first week after his stroke (in the hospital) we were having trouble getting him to keep his eyes open. I was being silly (as we always were to each other) and said to him "Please just open them for one second!". True to his sense of humor he opened his eyes wide as he could and looked straight at me. For about one second. Then he closed them. Awesome. Still brings a smile to my face. I tried and tried to get him to do it again for my mom to see but he wouldn't. Guess it was just for me and him.

I used to call him "Old man" and he would always respond, "What, Old Lady!". Just another of the millions of beautiful memories I will forever have of my Daddy. I have found my peace because of the love we shared and what a sweet spirit he had.

I have NO regrets when it comes to my Daddy.

Love you "Old man" :)

Peace...

2011-04-11T22:07:00.000-05:00

Today we buried my father. He was (almost) 70 years old and survived 8 strokes. His last one (the 8th) took it out of him though. Sometime the night of 3/24 (our 10th wedding anniversary) and the morning of 3/25 he suffered a massage stroke and was hospitalized for a week. If you haven't heard this story go back a few blogs and it should catch you up. After one week in the hospital we were told that we should make him as comfortable as possible in his final days. We took him home, gave him "his" pillow and let Belle (Dad's golden retriever) say hello. He survived a very tough week. It was tough on everyone. We had been told by the hospice nurse on Tuesday 4/5 that we probably had 24-48 hours with him. However he hung on until early Friday morning. He passed surrounded by his wife of 47 years, his son and daughter in law and his daughter.

I can't tell you how I feel. I just can't put it into words. To say I'm shellshocked would be an understatement. This is the man who I thought would live forever! He was so strong! Right up until the very end! I have my moments but for the most part I'm ok. I don't know that it's truly sunk in yet that he's gone.

The service was beautiful today and Dad looked great. He looked very much at peace. He even seemed to have a little smile on his face ;) Mom called in the the recruits and found a "Roll Tide" lapel pin for dad to wear and Bobby picked out a beautiful crimson tie to wear.

The graveside service was led initially by my Uncle Danny (my mother's sister's hubby). He did a wonderful job describing dad and all of his attributes. Bobby then followed (he's stronger than I give him credit for obviously). He said some wonderful, true things about Dad and brought back some awesome memories.

Mom held up pretty well. I think the alone time is the worst for her. I know it's the worst for me. If I can keep myself occupied, then I'm ok but the second I get a moment to think and reminiscence my heart breaks all over again.

I'm pretty sure I'm in the angry stage of grief now. Why him? Why now? All these why's.

I'm literally falling asleep while writing this so I'm going to bed...

Love,
E

Moments 2...

2011-04-07T19:11:00.002-05:00

I've been chastised for not blogging yesterday so here I am. It's about 4pm Thursday afternoon and I'm sitting on my parent's couch watching Oprah, listening to Mom talk to Aunt Margie on the phone, listening to Dad snore, watching Jen, out of the corner of my eye, goofing on her computer and blogging to you.

I find myself trying to keep busy doing things, cleaning, grocery shopping, running errands for Mom, etc so that I don't have to see and accept the inevitable.

I remember when my Grandpa Langham (my Mom's Dad) passed, it took Mom A WHILE to adjust. I remember clearly living on Hilton drive and Mom locking herself in her bedroom and just crying. It seemed like days. I was very young. That's pretty much all I remember but I remember feeling her pain and wishing there was something I could do. Even at the young age I was (under 5 I believe). It's amazing how children pick up on things like that.

On Tuesday, Dad's hospice nurse, Leah said we had about 24-48 hours with him. I spoke with her this morning and she still thinks that death is imminent. Dad has periods of sleep apnea every now and then that she said would continue to get longer and longer and he would eventually drift off to sleep. What a wonderful way to go. His kidneys have shut down and he lost the ability swallow a week ago so he's been unable to eat or drink. While he was still lucid we talked to him about his wishes and he was very adamant that he DID NOT want a breathing tube, a feeding tube or to be resuscitated. We honored his wishes. He's not in any pain. He's totally relaxed and calm. We open the window by the bed during the day when it's warm so that he can feel the warm breezes. We've all talked to him and made our peace with him. To quote Mom, he's just so darn "stubborn"!

I have questioned every person I know including God why Dad has to go this way. This is not right. This is not fair to anyone. This is pure torture. You can put on a smiley face and pretend to keep busy and think everything is fine when it's not but eventually you break down.

Everyone has their own way of dealing with stress. Mom and I have been reading for several days now about the stages of grief. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. It's hard for me to say if I've even started this process. I can tell you that Mom has. She is (I think) in the depression stage. She's heartbroken. She's being forced to watch her love, her other half, her husband of 47 years, pass away in front of her. It's just so damn unfair.

You didn't realize it but I just took a quick snack break. This afternoon's snack consists of Pillsbury creme cheese icing. That's right. Straight out of the container. This is one of those times when I really don't give a damn what I eat. Speaking of, I'm craving cookie dough. Specifically peanut butter or sugar. Anybody want to bring me some?? :)

Ok. Back to being unfair. I know life's not fair and there are so many unanswered questions when it comes to death and losing someone but for the life of me I can't see what God could possibly be trying to show/teach me by watching my father slowly pass. He had his stroke on 3/25. One day after my 10th wedding anniversary. They had watched Carter on Thursday for me b/c he wasn't feeling well. They went to bed and he woke up with the stroke symptoms. So we're really not clear when exactly the stroke happened. Wow, I have a way of getting off track. Anyways. If anyone has any clue what lesson (or whatever) I'm supposed to be getting out of this please let me know because as of this moment all I've learned is:
1. You can never say "I love you" too much.
2. Always forgive. Be the bigger person. Life's too short to live with regrets.
3. Surround yourself with your family and friends. They can bring you through (just about) anything. Trust me, I know.
and finally,
4. Be prepared. As morbid as it seems, the last thing your family should be worrying about after you pass is planning your funeral. Let your wishes be known. Have a will. I've learned over the past week just how expensive funerals are. And insurance DOES NOT pay out until they receive a death certificate which can take weeks to get and even then the turn around for the insurance is usually 4-8 weeks. Be prepared to pay $10,000 - $20,000 for a funeral. And that's a basic one.

Well, I'm going to go outside and swing in my Dad's favorite swing and close my eyes and listen to the calm...if even just for a moment... I'll leave you with some of my favorite pictures of Dad :)

Dad and (I think) Bobby

Elizabeth Keller with Joe & Bobby

Me and Dad :)

Carter, Nana and Pop (December 2010)

Caroline, Nana, Alex, Pop & Carter (October 2010)

Dad as an infant...

Joseph Vance and my Grandma Elizabeth Keller

Nana & Pop's beautiful backyard

My dad's favorite swing :)

God Bless,
E

Moments...

2011-04-05T09:35:00.001-05:00

Although the days seem to be dragging by, the moments are whizzing by.

Dad is very ill but is very clearly showing us his endurance :) He's being so strong. He's always been such a strong, manly man. Even here at the very end he's hanging on. His niece, Darla, and her husband, Bruce, came to visit over the past few days. They drove up from Mobile, AL. I was so surprised to hear that they were coming. It was so nice to see them! I haven't seen them in probably 20 years! You would not believe the number of people that have called with their condolences. It's amazing to me how many lives he's touched in his time here. It's sad but sometimes you don't realize how many people love you until it's too late.

My sister quoted a quote from Aeschylus last night that read, "There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief". I could not agree more. My mind is flooded with memories of Dad at my wedding, at the birth of his first grandchild, my son, Alexander "Charles" (named after my father in law who had recently passed), at the birth of his 2nd and 3rd grandchildren (TWINS!), Carter "Vance" (after Dad) and Caroline Reese and oh my gosh the moment he found out we were having twins :) Bless his heart I don't think it sunk in until we were about to leave to go home. He just couldn't comprehend that he was going to have twin grandbabies! And he was incredibly honored to hear that we were naming a child after him.

Throughout all of this I keep thinking of things that I'm grateful for. I'm grateful to have had my dad for almost 70 years now. He is at peace and I feel he's ready to be with his mom, dad, brother and other family in Heaven. There I said it. If I've offended anyone, I'm sorry, but that's how I feel.

I'm running out of time at the moment but have so many more things to say. I will try to post later tonite...

God Bless,
E

Days...

2011-04-03T23:07:00.001-05:00

Today was a rough day for everyone. Chris is still sick. I'm feeling icky. Alex is wild. The twins were pretty good though...

Dad is getting more and more less responsive as the days go on. 2 days ago he was talking pretty good. Yesterday is was incredible winded and it was difficult to speak. Today he's no talking at all. He is on Morphine for pain, Ativan for his nerves and also a pill to keep him from choking on the fluid in his stomach.

The nurse called this morning to check on dad and said that we probably only have a few days with him.

This coming week I'll be on call at Mom's house holding down the fort with Jen. '

Please pray for peace and comfort during these last few days.

Love,
E

Waiting...

2011-04-02T10:23:00.000-05:00

It's a waiting game now. It's been a VERY busy past few days.

My last post talked about how Dad would be having a heart cath done on Monday. However, once they got us down there and had Dad completely prepped for surgery the cardiologist made the decision that it wasn't time to do this. He noticed how Dad was irritated and would not be as still as he'd need to be for the operation. So we went back to his room.

Tuesday: was my day to catch up on house chores and go grocery shopping. I came back by the hospital around 3pm to find that the doctor's thought Dad may have had another stroke. Dad had been sleeping ALOT and not talking much or opening his eyes at all. (Mom and Bobby both have taken it pretty bad. They are very concerned. Don't get me wrong, I'm concerned as well but God has given me peace that everything will be ok) The doctors made the decision that Dad would go to a rehab facility once he was discharged to relearn all of his basic motor skills until he was able to go home. They also did a priority CT scan Thursday around 5:30pm. Within 15 minutes he was back and within 30 minutes we spoke to Dr. Shell (Cardiologist) who told us that the CT showed no new stroke. Good news, but bad news as well since this would mean that Dad was just slowing getting worse.

Wednesday: I went back to work on Wednesday. I went straight to the hospital after I got off and Dad was not doing well. They did a stress test early morning to see how well his heart would withstand the stress as well as to check the blockage I think. In the meantime I called Medicare to see what they would cover if Dad did indeed have to go to a rehab facility. It would be $50/day for the first 20 days, $100/day for the next 20 days then they would cover it 100%. Bottom line is it would depend on how long he stayed. If he stayed 100 days it would $3300. The CT results came back in that evening and they weren't good. 3 out of 4 arteries from his heart were blocked so there's nothing they could do. He is not a candidate for any type of surgery. We talked to the Cardiologist and she suggested we had a few choices. We could insert a feeding tube, take him to an inhouse hospice full time or take him home and keep him as comfy as possible. We made the decision to take him home just keep him comfortable as possible. Wednesday night dad wasn't doing much better and he wasn't swallowing so Bobby asked that they hook up his IV with saline so that he would at least stay hydrated. He was offered a feeding tube but ADAMANTLY denied it. The family agreed. That is NOT was Dad would have wanted. I know there are some that disagree with our choice but it was a decision for us to make. Dad, Mom, Beth and Bobby. And no one else's.

The hospice liaison came in and gave up some basic info on how everything works.

Thursday: We made the final decision to take Dad home where he'd want to be. With Belle (their Golden Retriever) Hospice is/was WONDERFUL. They took care of everything and very quickly as well.

Friday: I met the supply company at Mom and Dad's house for them to set up his bed. They discharged Dad and he arrived via ambulance around 2:00pm and got settled in. He was glad to be home and around his stuff.

It's hard to see him this way but at the same time I know he's ready to go and I'm ready for him to not be in anymore pain and to be with his mom, dad and brother as well as some extended family. He had his first stroke in 1995 and has had 7 since. It's been a long journey for him as well as his family. I am at peace with it.

Please keep our family in your prayers as we struggle thru the next few days/weeks...

Love,
E

Sunday's Update

2011-03-27T22:28:00.000-05:00

Today was relatively uneventful. The physical therapist came in and worked with Dad again. This time she was able to get him out of bed with the help of another nurse. This is great news. It's the first time he's been out of the bed since Thursday.

He had a rough night Saturday night. He got very combative and had to be restrained and sedated. Because of this they moved him to a room closer to the nurses station to keep a closer eye on him.

He is still having hallucinations. He was up on his knees in the bed last night saying that there were snakes in the bed. He was talking to Mom today when she wasn't there. He insisted that she was.

I brought Alex and the twins up to the hospital to see him today. He saw Alex and got to talk to him. I think Alex was afraid but he told Papa he loved him and gave him a hug and kiss and told him all about how he was going bowling with a friend later today. It was very sweet. He even packed 2 capri suns to give to Papa and a couple fruit roll ups for when he goes home :)

Alex shows Papa Tiger :)

Dad and Bobby looking at news from Japan...

We did not get any results or new information today regarding Dad's condition. Tomorrow will be the big day. He'll have the heart cath and we'll know from there what our next step will be. Dad is (for some unknown reason) cooperating with going along with the surgery plans as well as boarding Belle. I took her (Belle-Mom and Dad's golden retriever) this afternoon to the kennel for boarding. She'll be there for at least the next 5 days.

Well, time for bottles and bed. I'll take my laptop to the hospital tomorrow so I can update my blog when I have new info. Please check back often for updates. This is the best way for me to keep everyone updated.

Love,
E

Saturday's Update...

2011-03-27T22:05:00.001-05:00

Today was a day full of information. Some good. Some bad. Some unsure.

We'll start with the good. Dad was moved from CCU to a regular room today. His blood pressure is coming down with the new medication. He's able to hear VERY well and definitely has regained his sense of humor :) He even cracked a couple of jokes this afternoon! He's able to eat, swallow oral medication and he recognized a picture of Alex.

Now the bad. Today while I was there I noticed several things. First, he's not seeing as well out of his right eye as I initially thought. He's had to have a catheter put in. He's started having hallucinations. He thought he was covered in ants and was trying to get them off of him. He thought it was snowing and he was cold and kept "reaching" for his coat. Mom was sitting next to him beside the bed and he kept reaching over. When Mom asked him what he was reaching over for he said the table. There was no table.

Now the unsure. After reviewing the tests the cardiologist decided that Dad's heart is not healthy enough to endure a stress test. The next step will be to do a heart cath on Monday. This will tell them exactly how blocked his arteries near his heart are. If everything looks good then they'll go ahead and attempt to clear the arteries in the back of his neck via a catheter. If the tests come back that he has severe blockage, then that will tell us that he's not stable enough for the neck surgery and could possibly need open heart surgery.

Now for the worse... All day today Dad was relaxed and catnapping and cool as a cucumber. However just a few minutes ago I got a call from my brother saying that Dad had taken a turn for the worse and become very combative. So much so that they are having to restrain and sedate him. We talked with the cardiologist and he initially mentioned doing a stress test but after reviewing test results from the ekg and ct scans they decided he wasn't healthy enough for the stress test. So the next step is to do a heart cath to see how blocked the arteries around his heart are. If they are not very blocked then we're clear to proceed with a procedure to operate on his carotid arteries. Here's a great description of the procedures that may be used: Carotid Artery Surgeries.

That's all for now. We'll know more Monday.

Love,
E

Angels...

2011-03-25T22:41:00.000-05:00

I believe in angels.

I believe they are all around us all the time. They are our protectors. They comfort us no matter what we're going through. That take care of us and hold us close so we can feel God's love when we most need it.

I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason although we may not understand the reason at the time. I believe I was meant to have twins even though there are days when I reminisce back to our days of dinkdom (dual income no kids). I try to always see the bright side of things. I try to believe that deep down inside everyone has a good heart. Although sometimes you have to dig deep. I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.

All of this being said, it's been an incredibly draining day. Why I'm not already in bed is a mystery to me. I was at the hospital today from 8:30am - 5:30pm. I feel mentally exhausted. Dad's blood pressure is slowing stabilizing but unfortunately this time (this is his 8th stroke) he did not escape without battle scars. He has lost his vision in his left eye completely. He says it's been getting worse over the past week or so but who knows what the truth it. He is a very modest and proud man. He likes being me and Bobby's (my baby brother) Superman. He's rough and tough and does NOT like to be knocked down. It is very frustrating for him to be in the hospital. He wants to be home and be back in his normal routine.

Anyways, by the time Bobby and Jen (my sister-in-law) left tonite, Dad's blood pressure was like 170/83 which is a HUGE adjustment. He will no longer be allowed to drive. We'll see how that works out.

And just when I'm starting my pity party and feeling like I'm having the worst day ever, I hear that one of our closest friends lost his mom to cancer last night. This was a battle she had been fighting for years. Not that it makes it any easier at all. I just can't imagine his pain. She is in a better place with no more troubles or pain but it is still devastating to those left behind. I pray that those angels I spoke of earlier will surround him and his kiddos at the awful time and hold them tight and give them faith and comfort.

I've got to get to bed now. Visiting hours start early tomorrow and I want to be there when the Neurologist shows up as well as when he has his CT scan. Maybe tomorrow we'll get good news :D

Goodnite,
E

Dad...

2011-03-25T13:07:00.000-05:00

Today started out fine. I dropped babies off, got to work on time and even surprised a co-worker with a little gift :)

We started our workday and then my cell phone rang. It was my brother. I honestly didn't think anything of it. He was calling to let me know that dad had a stroke last night. We think that happened sometime during the night. He woke up dizzy, not seeing well and his left side of his mouth was drooping. She called my brother around 8am (the reason she didn't call 911 herself is a whole different story in itself) and told him. He called 911 and hurried to the hospital.

Once we got here we were seen by Dr. Brad Russell and nurse Brooks. They were wonderful. They did a CT scan and a chest x-ray. Both came back normal. No bleeding on the brain like he had with his last stroke.

His blood pressure has been extremely high. They've given him 3 injections of blood pressure meds but it still won't come down. I think the last pressure was 249/115. Because they can't get it lowered they have transferred him to the ICU.

So that's where Jen and I are now. Waiting in the ICU waiting room to be allowed to come back and see him. The nurses here are very strict and you HAVE to follow protocol. Bobby had a class at 11:30a and Mom had a doctor's appt at 12:30p so Jen and I are holding down the fort.

Dad has not been very agreeable but I will give him props that he didn't have to be restrained this time. I told the doctor this and he agreed that he may need a sedative until we can get everything regulated...

I'll update as I have more news...

Love,
E

Bathtub Fun!

2011-03-21T22:16:00.000-05:00

Well, the babies are finally getting to the age where they're able to sit up in the bathtub (aka: the kitchen sink)! Tonite was the fist night I sat them up and gave them some toys to play with. They LOVED it! Here are some of our favorite pictures from tonite :)

Daddy enjoying some Carter time!

Beautiful day!

2011-03-20T23:12:00.000-05:00

What a beautiful day it was! We spent the afternoon at Nana and Pop's. It was so ncie that we spread out a blanket and stripped the babies down to their diapers! They had such a good time just hanging out in the sunshine :)

Videos...

2011-03-19T22:36:00.000-05:00

Cow...

2011-03-18T22:08:00.000-05:00

Tonite at work we celebrated with a mexican fiesta! Today was Amber's last day so we wanted to do something special for her. Some of the girls in the office chose "spanish" names for everyone for the party. They were taped over our nametags during the party. The name chosen for me? La Vaca. English translation? Cow. How fitting.

Caroline says Mama!

2011-03-17T20:34:00.002-05:00

Loud and clear! Yay!

Love,
E

Falling apart at the seams...

2011-03-15T22:16:00.000-05:00

Well, that's how it feels to me lately. Ear infection, sinus infection, high blood pressure, low thyroid, etc, etc, etc. I went in this morning to have bloodwork done to check my thyroid function as well as kidneys and everything else. I hate giving blood. I hate needles. Correction. I HATE giving blood. I HATE needles. I've never liked shots. When I was preggo with the twins and was checking my blood sugar levels 4 times a day I thought it was going to be the death of me. But, I know as I get older (and after having 3 kids) this is something I should probably be used to. Now. With that said, does all this scare me into wanting to eat healthier and exercise more? It should. It doesn't.

I think the babies are finally trying to cut teeth. They are both running a low grade fever, have a runny nose, are drooling like crazy, are cranky like crazy and are chewing on EVERYTHING! They will be 8 months old in a few days so it's definitely time. Carter has finally mastered rolling back to front and front to back! Caroline is babbling all the time and has finally said "Mama" for me :) I've tried to get it on video but no such luck yet.

Work is going ok. One of our tellers has found a new job and this Friday will be her last day. It's bittersweet. I'm happy for her since she found a job doing what she's been wanting to do and one that allows her to utilize her college degree in accounting, but sad that she'll be leaving. She is by far the most cheerful person at our office and I'll miss hearing her laugh... Next week will be our first week without her and we'll also have 2 other associates on vacation so it will indeed be a BUSY week! The next 6 weeks (or until we hire someone to replace Amber) I'll be working 40 hours a week. Coming from working 30 hours to 40 hours is a big change! The paychecks will be awesome but I'll be exhausted I'm sure!

Mana has been helping us for the past couple of weeks while the babies and I were sick. She left Monday morning headed back for Alabama and took Alex with her! This was his first road trip without us and one of the few times he's not sleeping at home. We miss him terribly but it is SO much easier just having 2 babies to care for. It sounds crazy but just taking 1 child out of the equation making a HUGE difference! She'll be bringing him home this Friday and dropping him off with my Mom to stay a night or two. We talked to him tonite and I realized how much I miss him! He was talking about "giraffey" and I couldn't help but smile!

Now for the best part :) The most recent pictures and videos!

Love,
E

Sweet Caroline

Mommy's monogramming again...

Rough Day...

2011-03-08T21:53:00.000-06:00

For my day off, today sucked. Sorry, but it did. It started with dropping off kiddos then heading to Sam's to have my tires rotated and balanced. They preceded to tell me that because the tires were so worn they were not allowed to touch them. Oh yeh, and I have an alignment problem. So, I call Christian Brothers (mechanic) and they say to bring it in around 12p and they'll have it done by 3pm. So I continued on with my errands, 2 doctors appointments, grocery shopping and a trip back to Sam's for formula and my glasses that FINALLY came in.

At 5pm I go back to Christian Brothers to pick up my van only to find out that they haven't even had the chance to look at it :( Not good. Ugh. So this means that on one of my days off next week we'll be back at Christian Brothers.

Anyways, I guess the bottom line is that today has been extremely frustrating for me. The only upside is that I found a new comforter set at Sam's. It's been my "mission" if you will to convert our bedroom from kid/junk/bedroom to a peaceful, serene bedroom. So, this afternoon, I cleaned it out completely taking out EVERYTHING that wasn't necessary and leaving just the essentials. I washed the sheets and put the new comforter on and I think it looks pretty darn good!

Mana (Chris' mom) has been here since last Friday night and as usual, she's a TON of help. Nana (my mom) came over today as well to get some snuggle time with Carter. He's been sick with a cold and out of daycare since last Friday. She's heading home tomorrow for a couple of days but will be back Friday to help this weekend again. Oh, and the best part! She's taking A back home with her for a few days :) Woo-hoo! We'll be down to just 2 kids!

Chris has been studying for his last CPCU test and this weekend will be his last opportunity to study. Monday is D-day. This is the final test and the one that determines if we get to go to Vegas! No pressure or anything :) He was also recently chosen to be a Team Manager in a different department of State Farm for a year. It's a developmental role and after the year is up he'll return to his previous position assuming he's not been promoted... Anyways, I got to see his office today and it's pretty much a square box :) But, it does have a door! A big move up from where he has been (in a cube). He's got some finishing touches to do to spruce it up but you can definitely tell I'm the organized one! LOL!

His old office (and a VERY young Alex...I think he was almost 2)

His new digs!

Well, it's time to make bottles. Hopefully tomorrow will be a MUCH better day :)

Love,
E

I can't see Facebook!

2011-03-06T21:47:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I decided to get original with the title. Long story short is I found out last week that I need glasses (yes, all the time) and I've deleted my facebook page.

Now for the long story. After several weeks of coming home from work with headaches and not knowing why, while driving home on the interstate the other day I noticed the interstate signs were a little blurry. So, I went in and had my vision checked thinking nothing of it b/c I had LASIK 12 years ago. Well, it didn't exactly go that way. I found out that my vision is not that great. I will need glasses and I'll have to wear them all the time. Well, at least the headaches will go away and honestly I'm kinda excited to get them! Does that make me old?

Now on to facebook. I went back and forth trying to decide whether or not to delete my facebook account and finally decided to do it. Too much drama. No, nothing new. Just the whole facebook thing. Everything you say will be overanalyzed and taken the wrong way. Just too much to worry about. It's actually been pretty liberating. No, I don't know what ALL my friends did today or what they ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner but guess what? I'm ok with that! I wasn't constantly checking it to see if someone had commented on one my pics or whatever. Anyways, it's gone and I'm ok with it.

And the most important thing :) This month Chris and I will celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary! It's almost hard to believe! My gift from him was beautiful sapphires added to my engagement ring. I'm adding a pic in to show you :) I LOVE it!

Well, I guess that 's it for now. Time for bed!

Love,
E

Breakfast time!

My beautiful anniversary gift!

It's been a while...

2011-03-02T21:27:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been a while (at least for me!) since I blogged. I love doing this. It's such a wonderful outlet for me as well as an awesome way to quickly relay what's going on in our lives to our friends and families!

***Warning: this blog WILL be choppy and all over the place. I am certain I will ramble. There's your warning...

The babies are doing great. Caroline was in the 90th percentile at 7 months (18.5lbs) and little Carter was in the 50th percentile (16.12lbs). Caroline is still very much the BIG sister! Ha! We are working with Carter to help him roll more (he's only rolling front to back now) and hopefully the babies will start babbling soon! It's time! We get squeals and
laughter but no vowel sounds yet (they want to hear baba, dada, bebe, etc).

My hours at work have been increased and my boss' goal is to get me back to 35 hours. I'd be thrilled with that. 1 day off/week so I still have time to get things done during the week but still getting a good amount of hours at work.

Things seem like they're moving at warp speed lately...

Over the past several months I've noticed that my vision has been a little blurry. I really didn't think anything about it because I had LASIK done about 12 years ago. Well, yesterday I mentioned it to Chris and he suggested I get an eye exam. Well, as it turns out I need glasses. Crazy, right? I am in total disbelief. I NEVER expected to have to wear glasses (ALL THE TIME, not just for reading) after LASIK. Oh well. So now I've ordered my glasses and they'll be here next week sometime. I wonder what the babies will think? Will they still recognize me?

The babies are sleeping through the night now. Whew! I can hardly believe it! It's weird being able to sleep all night without interruption.

I called Comcast last week and threatened to switch from them to Dish Network and they lowered our rate by $40/month as well as gave us a free DVR. Like everyone said, I'm LOVING it! It's SO nice to be able to record my favorite shows then actually watch them when I have time! I'm finally able to catch up on all I've missed! It's like a dream come true :)

Well, it's time again to wash bottles and make formula. I'll be so glad when these babies are drinking whole milk! Geez! I'll leave ya with a few pics from the past couple of weeks!

FINALLY enough hair to put a bow in :)

Playing hat tricks with Pop!

Alex shooting skeet with Pop (except his gun is plastic!)

DOWN for the count :)

Caroline's hand over Carter's. Both were sound asleep!

Apparently she was trying to figure out why Ava has hair and she doesn't?!?!

Finally rolling to her belly to sleep at night!

A full tummy and ready for bedtime!

A quick photo and video post :)

2011-02-22T23:04:00.000-06:00

Some pics and video from our recent trip to Huntsville as well as a really good video of Caroline laughing :)

Zombie Apocalypse

2011-02-18T22:47:00.000-06:00

My blog title tonite is an inside joke for my Hubby. I'll finally know if he reads my blog :)

Today was a good day. And I'm tired. It started early dropping kiddos off at school/Nana's and then I took my laptop and headed over to Panera Bread Co. for some yummy food and one-on-one time with my computer :) then it was off to the post office then to visit my good friend Katie then back home for a little sewing then washing/filling bottles...now it's almost 10pm and we've not even started packing yet. We'll be leaving tomorrow for our first visit (with the twinkies) to Huntsville. This means we'll be getting up early tomorrow and packing everyone. Whew. It will be a job. I'm trying to make a list of everything we need and hoping I don't forget anything (I know Mom, if I forget it then I can just buy it there...)...

I made some time today (being my last official day of vacation) to work on some embroidery. I'm working on embroidering the babies' names or initials on their bibs. Everything that goes to daycare needs to be labeled with their names and it's really hard to label a bib. I've lost most of my boy bibs already and I have a feeling that they're in a drawer somewhere at daycare :) It's kinda like the pink pacifiers around here. They just seem to disappear into thin air! We have a TON of blue and green ones but like 2 pink ones (and trust me, I bought WAY more than 2)!

Notice only 1 bib is Carter's!

I got our new Ergo baby carriers in the mail today (Thanks Mana!) and I LOVE them :) You'll have to excuse the "locale" but I wanted to get a couple of photos of Miss Caroline in it. She was so content! Notice the chubby cheeks hanging over the side of the carrier!

Coco came for a visit last Thursday and stayed with us until Sunday :) We had SO much fun and it was SO NICE to get together and have a couple of drinks and catch up! Plus she got to meet Carter and Caroline for the first time! It was so cute to see :) They went RIGHT to her and didn't hesitate at all like we've been seeing them do with strangers lately...

On Sunday, February 13th, we celebrated my birthday with a yummy cake from Julia's and some pretty cool gifts too. I especially liked the Yoda pin and Ben 10 action figures that A picked out just "for me" :)

And finally just some random shots that we thought were cute...

Well, seeing as how it's now almost 11pm and I'm still up blogging I'd probably go get some rest before tomorrow :)

Love,
E

Headaches and Hormones...

2011-02-16T23:05:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

That pretty much describes my night. My head is pounding, I had a BIG piece of birthday cake for dinner and my plans for tomorrow and this coming weekend have fell thru :( This is my pity party.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Ok, enough of that. Today's my birthday. I should be happy. WTH? My head is still hurting but it's not my sinuses this time. It feels like it's all in my head. Stress? Why in the world would I be stressed when I'm on vacation this week? I got a uber cool new computer for my birthday (that I'm blogging on now) and for our 10 year anniversary (next month!) I'm having some beautiful work done to my wedding rings :)

So, I just log onto Facebook and find out that one of my friends that I graduated high school with passed away last night. Melissa was only 33 and planning a wedding for April of this year. She was a beautiful girl with an incredible future ahead of her. It was a 2 car accident last night around 730pm and she was the only victim. The other driver had non life-threatening injuries. Why her? I guess that's the million dollar question and I can't even imagine what her family must be going through. My prayers are with her family and her fiance'. I pray that God will give them some sort of peace throughout this awful time in their lives.

It's time for some good news... Tomorrow is a new day. A fresh start.

Love,
E

Oh yeh, as usual I'll post some pictures from the past few days...

My Birthday Gift from the Twins :) (Those are their toe prints!)

Getting to be a pro at holding his bottle!

Carrots actually went over well!

Scary skies 12/16/11

Coco makes a mean chocolate martini :)

Always how he comes from Nana's! He's worn out :)

Shame on Nora doing this to our poor little guy!

Beauty Sleep...

She's getting pretty good too! Even without the handles!

Zoobully Zoobully Zoo!

2011-02-12T22:27:00.000-06:00

Today was zoo day! We packed up the twins and the 4 year olds and spent the afternoon at the Nashville Zoo! We are so lucky to have such a beautiful zoo so close to us! It was a beautiful day here in TN just a little chilly@ Here are a few of my favorite pics :)

All in all, a nice visit with a great friend :)

Love,
E

Coco's Coming!

2011-02-11T00:41:00.000-06:00

My best friend, Nicole, that I've known since the 5th grade is coming to visit! Matter of face she'll be here in just a few minutes! I can't wait :) We're going to be keeping all the babies home tomorrow (she's bringing her 4 year old as well) and just spending the day catching up :)

I'm also so psyched about the new stroller I found on Craigslist! Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Craigslist??? It's awesome! This is the original stroller I registered for then deleted b/c it was too expensive. It retails for $175 (plus shipping and handling) and I got a 1 year old version with carseat attachment for just $100! I'll need to purchase another carseat adapter to use it like the snap and go but that's only $20. It's a Kolcraft Contours Tandem Stroller and here it is:

Words can't describe...

2011-02-05T21:18:00.000-06:00

I got a call at work yesterday from Chris with some very sad news. A sweet girl, Angela, that works for him has a 3 month old little boy, Daxton. Yesterday morning Angela dropped off Daxton with her mother and went to work. After putting Daxton down for his morning nap his grandmother went to wake him and found him unconscious. They rushed him to the hospital and Chris rushed Angela there as well but they were unable to revive him.

My heart is truly breaking for this family. Being a new mom myself, I can't even imagine this. I can't wrap my mind around it. I feel speechless. Yet here I am blogging. I guess I'm hoping that by getting it out I will find some peace for this family. I've been praying all day for them but can't seem to push it to the back of my mind. I hurt so bad for her. I can't even imagine.

There are days when we gripe (on facebook or whatever) about having to get up at night with the babies or when they won't stop crying or when they're fussy, or whatever. But I know for sure Angela would trade anything in the world right now to be worried about those "little" things.

I don't know how to get over this. It's still so fresh. I have so many questions (mainly for my own concerns for my little one) that will never be answered.

All I can say is hug your little ones close tonite and be grateful for all the little worries we have. It's unfathomable how quickly it can all be taken away from us....

It's been a while....

2011-02-05T08:25:00.000-06:00

And LOTS has happened! Everyone is finally well (although I'm afraid I might have jinxed myself).

First off the babies were baptized this past Sunday 1/30 at our church and they were PERFECT! They couldn't have been any better...

The babies have "for the most part" been sleeping thru the night. Caroline still wakes for her paci about 4 times a night and we have to get up, run upstairs and pop it back in but that will hopefully be ending soon!

I'm working on "teaching" the babies how to hold their bottles. I bought the little handles that attach to the bottles and have been "making" them hold their own bottle to try and learn... They're doing pretty good I think!

More to come later... Gotta get to work!

Love,
E

Short and Sweet...

2011-01-26T22:57:00.000-06:00

It's been a LONG day so I'll keep this short and sweet :) We've had some pretty big accomplishments with the twins over the past few days.

First off, Caroline had tubes put in her ears on Monday morning. Everything went well and we were home before we knew it. She was a little fussy that day but by Tuesday she was back to her old self and back at daycare :) I swear she's even cooing more since she had the tubes put in. I really wonder if the reason she wasn't talking as much as Carter is because she simply couldn't hear as well?

Secondly, Carter has finally figured out how to roll from tummy to back. FINALLY!

And lastly, my sweet Caroline has figured out how to use the Podee botttles we've bought. They're supposed to be a Godsend for multiple babies!

I came across this video on a friend's page and could help but LOVE IT! If you're a Mom, I thin kyou will too@
It's called "First Mom". Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Fun with Caroline :)

2011-01-24T06:05:00.000-06:00

Miss Caroline and I have had a fun day :) I finally made her laugh! I made homemade applesauce tonite for them but it ended up being a little too thick for them so I'm going to have to thin it out a little and try it another night... Anyways, we ended up eating oatmeal. So, while eating her oatmeal, I think she was afraid I was going to sneak in some more applesauce because she kept pursing her lips and almost growling at me! LOL! So, jokingly, I growled back at her and she thought it was HYSTERICAL! So of course I had to keep doing it :) She's so darn cute!

After dinner we had some snuggle time on the couch :)

I'll leave you with some sweet pictures of my babies over the past couple of days!

Caroline says "Roll Tide!"

Literally :)

What the heck is this thing?

Big brother getting some twin time...

She always looks "startled"....

Our little man Carter!

2 days and counting...

2011-01-22T21:03:00.001-06:00

Well, we're just 2 days away from Caroline's surgery. I'm incredibly nervous (although I'm trying to not let anyone know...well, until now!) about her being put to sleep because she's so small but they assure me they've done babies her size before and that she'll be fine. It's a VERY quick procedure and will take less than 30 minutes. I'm not sure yet what time surgery will be (I have to call tomorrow night to find out) but they do the youngest babies first so I'm guessing we'll be pretty early. Please say a little prayer for Dr. Gross (our ENT) and all the nurses and doctors that will be working with our baby girl on Monday.

Things have been pretty calm around here lately. Mana has been here helping out since Chris had to travel to Cincinnati last week for a few days... Work has been going well, everyone is healthy again...

...and my favorite time of the year is coming up :) Valentine's Day and my birthday! Not a big one this year. 32. Just another number. I am super stoked about my best friend, Nicole, coming up to visit though! We've been friends since the 5th grade and have kept in touch over the past 22 (Wow, that's a long time!) years through marriages, moves, babies, etc. She's coming up in a few weeks with her 4 year old step daughter Evie to visit and meet the twins :) I can't wait to introduce them to her!

Well, I'm off to make bottles then hit the sack before babies start waking up!

Love,

Peace? What the heck is that?

2011-01-18T16:37:00.000-06:00

Well, as much as I don't want to jinx myself I will say that all is good on the homefront :) Babies are healthy, Alex is healthy and Mom and Dad are doing pretty well too! Whew!

All the kiddos were back at school yesterday and everyone slept well last nite! Thank GOD! Mommy and Daddy needed some rest!

The past few days have went pretty well and we've enjoying just hanging out around the house... Last week we had a pretty good snow storm and we ended up with about 5.5" of snow! It was very cool as long as you were inside the house looking out. Not good if you were out in it. Luckily the bank closed so I stayed home with the kiddos. State Farm was open at 10am so Chris had to go in because apparently people still have accidents when it snows???

Here are a couple of videos from the past few days!

And Caroline finally figures out the exersaucer!

Time to go pick up babies!

Love,
E

Never ending drama....

2011-01-13T21:37:00.000-06:00

Well, no sooner than everyone gets well, and Alex gets the flu. :( He's so pitiful. He sounds SO raspy and just lays around (totally not like him). He slept most of the day with Mom today and I'm taking off tomorrow to stay with him then Chris will have all 3 when I work Saturday (pray for him!). Anyways, the doc prescribed Tamiflu so we started that tonite. The hope is that it will shorten the virus by 2-3 days. We'll see. He may not tolerate it but we won't know that for a couple of hours (he just got his first dose)...

Chris just went in to check on him and he was sound asleep. It's been about 2 1/2 hours since he took the Tamiflu so I'm hoping that's a good sign that he'll be able to tolerate it...

We'll see what tonite brings...

On a side note, the babies have started jar foods! I talked to the doctor yesterday and he said that they are old enough now to be getting rice cereal (by the spoon, not in the bottle anymore) as well as #1 jar foods. So, this week they've started the cereal before their bedtime bottle and pears at lunch... So far so good :) Caroline is a MUCH better eater than Carter. She opens wide and even grabbed the spoon from Daddy! It was too cute! Carter on the other hand isn't really interested in eating from the spoon. Although I'm sure that'll change with time... Caroline said "Mama" tonite!!! Well, I think it was an accident but Chris heard her and it was so cute :) I couldn't get her to say it again so I'm sure it was a fluke but nonetheless it was AWESOME! The twins are finally figuring out the johnny jumpups and are too cute in them :)

I've decided to get a new laptop for my birthday next month so I'm taking donations :) LOL! Feel free to mail checks payable to Elizabeth Scogins :) My BIL helped me find a pretty nice laptop at a great price so I'll be ordering it very soon! The hard part is going to be not opening it until my birthday 2/16! I'm not a very patient person! Ha!

I'll leave you with a few pics from the past few days!

Love,
E

Waiting...

2011-01-10T06:44:00.000-06:00

Many of you are waking up to a beautiful white morning!

Here in Murfreesboro we got about 4-5 inches! That's quite a bit for us. I know our Northern friends are probably rolling their eyes at us, but seriously, in TN that's a BIG deal! Tennessee Department of Transportation is asking everyone to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.

State Farm will be opening at 10:00am (as of 6am) but we are to call at 8am to see if they will still be opening. I haven't heard from Bank of America yet. Hopefully it won't be too much longer though before I have an answer. Daycare IS open as of now believe it or not...

Lazy Sunday...

2011-01-09T17:46:00.000-06:00

The babies were recognized today at the "infant recognition" during our church service. They introduced all babies born in 2010! Caroline was an absolute doll in her white frilly dress and Carter was VERY handsome in his john john. Unfortunately I did not get pictures. I'm not really sure why???

I finally found my keys last night (in a jacket pocket I was SURE I had checked)! We had a good time at the party last night but the babies were a handful. The first hour or so they were angels but it just kind of went downhill from there... Caroline refused to take her 8pm bottle and was not happy from about 7pm on. I had forgotten to give her her Prevacid before we left so that may (?) have been it but I'm not sure. We got home around 9p and I gave her the Prevacid and tried to feed her again but she was too tired and wouldn't wake up to eat...

So, last night was a long one. It started about midnight with Caroline whining... Chris went up and replaced her paci but then just 45 minutes later she was up again. He went up again and replaced the paci then she was up around 2am. He went ahead and fed them (thinking she was hungry b/c she didn't eat at 8pm) hoping they'd sleep after that but it was no such luck. Finally around 230am I ended up in the nursery sleeping for the rest of the night (morning...). It was a LONG night! We're really hoping tonite is better.

We've switched back to the Avent bottles (they are SO much easier to clean!) and the babies seem to be doing ok on them. I was worried they wouldn't want to take the different nipple but they've done fine. I figured they are almost 6 months now (SO hard to believe!) so maybe they're little digestive systems are a little more matured...

The babies have been good today though smiling and playing... Caroline has discovered she can get her toes in her mouth (she somehow managed to scratch her head while she was at church this morning even though I JUST cut her nails!) and Carter has realized that he can get REALLY LOUD with his voice!

All tuckered out after partying...

2011-01-08T23:02:00.000-06:00

We had a great time with good friends tonite! The babies were definitely oohed and aahhed over and it was nice for Mom and Dad to get out!

Has anyone seen my keys???

2011-01-08T11:51:00.000-06:00

I had them Thursday afternoon but they've been MIA ever since! I came home from the store Thursday (with Carter) to a sick Alex. I remember unloading all the groceries and getting Carter out but can't remember what i did with my keys! I've searched high and low (trunk of the car, wal-mart bags from groceries, all countertops and tables, all of my pockets, all 10 of my bags that I take everywhere with me (for those of you who know me, you'll get a laugh outta that one!), the diaper bag and the entire car! I cannot imagine anywhere else they would be!

On a good note (although I'm afraid to jinx myself), everyone in the house is well with the exception of snotty noses but that kinda comes with the territory when you have kiddos. I'm here blogging with you (Caroline's asleep on the couch next to me) and the boys (Chris, Alex & Carter) are at the "Orange Bob" Store (Home Depot). Not to be confused with the "Blue Bob" Store (Lowe's) :)

Mana packed up and headed back home this morning after breakfast for some MUCH DESERVED rest! Mom (who finally (LOL) came down with the stomach bug yesterday) is starting to feel a little better and should be much better by tomorrow...

I've had a shower (insert joke here) and am on my 2nd cup of coffee :) At this exact moment, life is good. Who knows what the next few minutes will bring but for now we're good.

Tonite Alex will be going to our friend's house (and his best friend Nate!) while Daddy and I go to the annual "After Christmas" Party with our Sunday School class. It should be ALOT of fun and I am SO looking forward to it!!! We all bring a gift (white elephant) and take turns exchanging or stealing gifts from one another :) It just occurred to me how old I sound. 10 years ago (Hell, maybe even 5!) I would've laughed if someone told me that was their idea of an exciting nite! But alas, after 3 kids and countless sleepless nights (for one reason or another), it sounds mighty good to me! I guess I am getting old!

Well, Chris just walked in and Carter is NOT happy so I guess that's my update for now :)

Love,
E

Seriously? Can we just have the whole house fumigated???

2011-01-07T22:49:00.000-06:00

Now Mom is sick with the same bug. It's spreading like wildfire. About the only good news is that it is a fast moving bug so you're typically only sick 12-18 hours and it seems like the younger the age the quicker the bug passes. Alex was feeling better already last night and spent the day with Mana and Daddy at home today.

Tomorrow is a new day. :) This too shall pass! One of my Mom's favorite sayings and I'll never forget. It's like my mantra since the twins have been born. This too shall pass...

Work was good today just very hectic. It was one of those days where I had a lot of "little" things on my to-do list but everytime I started one something else came up. I finally caught up and was able to leave this afternoon around 5:30pm to pick up babies at daycare by 6pm. I spent a good part of my day today coaching my tellers. I really do enjoy that aspect of my job I just feel that I don't have the opportunity to do it as much as they need/I would like. I love a good challenge so when they say, "I don't know how to talk to this customer about...", I enjoy helping them come up with different approaches. For those of you who don't know, I'm a teller operations specialist at Bank of America and a very large part of my job entails coaching my tellers to meet certain daily/monthly referral goals... I love feeling like I'm part of the team and coaching reinforces that for me.

So, last week when the babies were SO STOPPED UP and snotty, Chris googled for some advice and came across a product called "Baby-Vac". Hold on to your seat here. It's very similar to what the hospital used to suck out Carter's nose when he was sick. It's a long tube (that attaches on one end to your house vacuum cleaner) with a bulb thingy on the other end to collect the ick. I have to say I was VERY skeptical and thought for sure that it would hurts the babies or scare them. Well, it came in day before yesterday and we tried it for the first time yesterday. It was AMAZING! Best $30 we've spent in a while! It can also be used on adults...

Well, that's all for now, I'm dozing off as I'm typing this (yawn!) and I've got to get some good sleep tonite. Sleeping on the couch last night just did not do it for me. I woke up feeling exhausted...

Love,
E

The last few days...

2011-01-06T23:28:00.000-06:00

...have been BUSY! I came down with the stomach bug last weekend and it seemed that the rest of the family was in the clear. Or so we thought. Today while at the grocery store I got a call from the daycare saying that Alex had thrown up 3 times and was still sick. So Chris went to bring him home and within the hour Chris was showing the same symptoms. So, I immediately went into "survival mode"! Ha! I called in the reinforcements (Mana who just left our house a few days ago was back en route to our house, Uncle Robo was here to help and "Aunt" Leslie was on her way over!)! By the time Mana arrived (thanks mostly in part to Leslie), the babies were contentedly playing on the floor, Daddy was asleep in bed and Alex was watching DVDs in his room (Thanks Uncle Robo!!! Yes, we TEMPORARILY moved a TV into his room so he could "rest"). The house was calm. Thank God for Mana! I know I seem to say that alot lately but she truly has been a Godsend and I hope she knows how much we really appreciate her!

Now for the past few days... The babies seem to be growing up overnight! I'm LOVING having my iPhone 4 and taking advantage of lots of video and pictures on the fly :) Here are just a few...

Carter LOVES bathtime!

Our cheeky monkey :)

Our typical morning routine...

Caroline is already learning to use Daddy's iPhone...

Not too sure about the exersaucer!

A long read but too funny not to share!

2011-01-05T14:18:00.000-06:00

And I agree with it 100% (just times 2 for twins!!!

Thinking of having kids..Try this 11 step program first

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.

2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.

3. Go home.

4. Pick up the paper.

5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2 Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...

1. Methods of discipline.

2. Lack of patience.

3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.

4. Allowing their children to run wild.

5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.

Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3 A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)

2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.

3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.

4. Set the alarm for 3AM.

5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.

6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.

7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.

8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM. 9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive) Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4 Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.

2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.

3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.

4. Then rub them on the clean walls.

5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.

6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5 Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.

2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out. Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6 Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.

2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.

3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.

4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7 Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.

2. Make a small hole in the side.

3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.

4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.

5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.

6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air. You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9 Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10 Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11 Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent! For anyone else reading this - I'm thrilled that you are all enjoying it, as I did - immensely. However, I DID NOT write it! It was sent in an email from a friend of mine... and I'm not sure who the original author is.

Elizabeth L. Scogins

"Bloom where you're planted..."

www.scogins.com

Sent from my fabulous iPhone!

Update on Mommy...

2011-01-01T18:25:00.005-06:00

I hit send too quick. If you go to the blog directly instead of just reading the email you'll see the corrected version.

The doc said for me to lie on my left side and drink plenty of water and recheck my bp again in an hour. I did and it had dropped to 132/86 thank goodness. Who knows why it went up in the first place.

I'm feeling some better but am still quarantined to my room until tomorrow. We can't risk anyone else getting it and it's VERY contagious.

Cari called and even though they have just gotten home from a long trip, said they'd watch A so that has helped alot. He and his mom just have the twins to watch now and that's MUCH easier...

I'm feeling better already just very tired so hopefully by tomorrow I'll be good to go!

Thanks for the prayers, He truly does answer them...

Elizabeth L. Scogins
"Bloom where you're planted..."
www.scogins.com

Sent from my fabulous iPhone!

Uh oh, Mommy's sick...

2011-01-01T15:01:00.002-06:00

I feel awful. I was up all night every hour vomiting with diarrhea. For the past 2 hours I've had a really bad headache. I took 800mg of Advil an hour ago but it's not helped. I just took my bp and it's 151/105. I just talked to the oncall Dr. He said the blood pressure is concerning because he'd expect my bp to be low with the vomiting and diarrhea. He told me to lie on my left side, drink lots of fluids and retake my bp. If it hasn't went down after an hour I'll need to go to the ER. Please say a little prayer for me.

Love,
E

Elizabeth L. Scogins
"Bloom where you're planted..."
www.scogins.com

Sent from my fabulous iPhone!

Finally, some laughs for Mommy :)

2010-12-30T22:32:00.000-06:00

I finally got some laughs out of Caroline tonite :) She's so darn cute!

It was short lived though as she soon developed the same symptoms that Carter was showing yesterday. She's not running a high fever but has all the congestion and wheezing. The good news is that Daddy is off tomorrow and next Monday then I'm off next Tuesday and Thursday so we should be covered (Mana is here as well and that's ALWAYS a HUGE help!)!

On Tuesday I took Caroline to see Dr. G (the ENT doc) for a referral for tubes. He was very nice and reassuring and the surgery has been scheduled for 1/24. It will be done at the surgery center and shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. He said they don't even use general anesthesia they just use a little laughing gas to put them "under" long enough to do the procedure. It sounds like we will be in and out rather quickly.

I got a ton accomplished today! I got Chris' wedding ring resized (after 10 years it was more than a little tight!), picked up some consignment items that didn't sell, did our grocery shopping, got a hair cut and color (Yay!) and picked up some jammies for the babies with some Christmas money they got from Aunt Mary (Mana's sister)! It was a busy day!

It's moments like right now when everyone is asleep but me when I realize how blessed we really are. The house is quiet (except for Chris' snoring! LOL!) and I'm catching the news and finally relaxing on the couch with some raspberry sherbet...

Well, it's time for bed because tomorrow will be a LONG day at work I'm sure!

Love,
E

Tonite's adventure...

2010-12-30T06:37:00.001-06:00

Well, I ended up taking Carter to Children's Hospital at Vandy tonite. He was pretty much inconsolable and I just had a gut "Mommy" feeling that something wasn't right.
They were WONDERFUL. As soon as we got there they pushed us straight to the front of the line (they have their own emergency room and everything). I guess they treat kids by the severity b/c a Dr. was in the waiting room and immediately took his vitals as I was signing in. He took us back pretty quickly and mentioned to the Dr. in the back that there were 5 ahead of us but he felt we were more "severe" and needed to be seen first.

They weighed him (an even 16lbs!) and hooked him up to a blood pressure cuff and pulse ox meter. His heartrate was elevated and his pulse ox kept dropping (I'm sure b/c he's having trouble breathing. We (Leslie went with me) were there until about midnight.

They stuck a tube down both nostrils and sucked out all the snot (it was awful, the tube went all the way down his nostrils to his throat and it looked like he was choking the whole time. If you've ever seen them swab for RSV it was kinda the same idea). They got a ton of mucus out but he was still wheezing and congested so they offered to do a saline breathing treatment to break up all the congestion so we did that. It helped until about 3am but then he sounded almost as bad as before.

They're officially calling it "bronchiolitis" and it's viral (Dr. Eastham was right) so there's really no treatment just keeping him sucked out until he feels better (typically 7-10 days). It is contagious so we'll be keeping him quarantined as best we can until he's better so hopefully Caroline won't catch it).
We got home around 1am and I finally got everyone down at 115am and the humidifier hooked up in the nursery. Both babies were up screaming at 3am so I fed them and they slept til just now (6am). Carter sounds awful right now (all congested and snotty) but I'm trying to wait til I feed them at 7am to suction him out b/c he's going to freak (and probably wake everyone in the house) when I do it.
Caroline (knock on wood was "cool as a cucumber" when I got home so she'll be going to daycare tomorrow (ugh, today I mean).
All in all, I'm glad we went. They were very thorough and definitely put us at ease. They didn't charge us while we were there (I'm sure I'll get a bill) but even with a $100 copay it was worth it to get the reassurance that he's ok.
Well, that's my update. What a night.
Elizabeth L. Scogins
"Bloom where you're planted..."
www.scogins.com
Sent from my fabulous iPhone!

Full on, belly laughs!

2010-12-27T21:35:00.000-06:00

So today while I was hard at work, Caroline was showing off her new giggly side :) I am so sad I missed it but SO HAPPY Chris got it on video! It's not the best video but really you just need the audio! Too cute!

Roley Poley...

2010-12-26T21:53:00.000-06:00

Ok, so maybe that's not how you spell it but we finally have a little roller on our hands! Caroline has finally mastered rolling back to front and front to back :) Yay! It seems like the past few days have been really productive for our little ones! Caroline has started laughing, Carter found out that he can blow raspberries and Caroline is rolling! What's next???

Love,
E

Raspberries!

2010-12-26T11:48:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post to brag on Carter :) He learned today to give raspberries!

It's CHRISTMAS!!!

2010-12-25T22:50:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas! It has been a perfect day! It was the first "white" Christmas Tennessee had seen in 17 years! We had about 2 inches of snow on the ground and lots of flurries :) We started our day with a VERY happy little boy tearing open packages! He made out like a bandit!

Mommy got BIG Christmas hugs from all her babies...

Uncle J.J. got some "twin love" =)

The twins got to dress up in their new outfits from Leslie!

Then it was off to Uncle Robo and Aunt Jen-Jen's house for lunch! But first we had to open gifts of course!

Alex was SO EXCITED to get a really cool Optimus Prime (I think that's the name!) costume and mask (from Robo and Jen-Jen) and Buzz Lightyear wings (from Nana and Pop)!

The twins got lots of fun goodies including rocking chairs from Mana, cool new highchair toys from Nana and Pop, glowworm "Seahorses" and Sophie teething giraffes from Santa!

A good time was had by all and lots of yummy food filled our bellies...

And finally it was time to come home for naps =)

What a wonderful Christmas it was for our family! We hope all our friends and families were as blessed as we were this year!

Love,

A, B, C, C & C

Laughs!

2010-12-24T23:20:00.004-06:00

What a busy day today was! Chris and I both had to work today so Mana (Chris' mom) came down to watch babies! My mom kept Alex and Mana kept the twins. They had a fun time playing and when Mommy got home it was time to pick up Alex and head to church for the candlelite service! It was so cute! Alex got to be an "animal" in the Christmas story during the service and being his first time in "big" church, he did so good!

Caroline laughed for the first time today! I was so excited I couldn't help but get a quick video of her :)
The babies were so happy tonite we were able to get a few cute pics out of them as well! Alex got a new Mr. Incredible costume from his Mana and wore it all night! He got to open one present tonite and chose one from his Great Aunt Mary. She got him this really cool tunnel that connects to a pop up tent! He LOVES it! He couldn't wait to get it set up and check it out! And as soon as it was set up he was in it immediately and demanding a pillow for it! Hahaha! It was too cute :)

Nana bought the twins some really cute outfits for Christmas so I snapped this pic just for her :) I don't realize it until i see a pic of them together but they look so much alike to be boy/girl twins!

Carter is full of smiles and Caroline has discovered her toes and loves to hold on to them every chance she gets :)

Well, it's time to get ready for Santa! Merry Christmas everyone!

Santa!

2010-12-19T18:21:00.001-06:00

I had to post again to brag on my babies! They all did SO good with Santa! Well, Caroline melted about 5 seconds after we set her in Santa's lap, but luckily we got a shot "mid-meltdown"! LOL!

Alex had a great time with his good friend, Campbell!

Campbell wasn't so sure about Santa :)

Fun times!

2010-12-19T10:58:00.000-06:00

It's been a busy week/end! The babies are finally starting to feel a little better (thank you antibiotics!) so we're going today to get Santa pics this afternoon! Who knows how they'll react. They'll probably be terrified but I hope not, I have the CUTEST outfits for them! I'm still not sure how we're going to do with with 3 kiddos and Santa only having 2 arms...Hmmm...

Yesterday was a busy day of visiting with friends! My good friend Tanya came over for lunch with her family. It's been way too long since we've seen them and they were surprised at how big the babies have gotten! When I took Carter to the doc on Friday he was a whopping 15lbs 11oz! Who knows how big Caroline is now...I'd bet close to 16lbs! Last nite we had 2 other managers and their families (from State Farm) over for dinner. The babies did well, because there was always someone willing to hold them :) It was tons of fun and nice to enjoy time with friends! We even met a future babysitter :) She's 13 and so sweet! She was wonderful with the babies and I think she will make a great babysitter one day! I don't know that's she's ready to tackle all three though! Chris smoked ribs and they were so yummy! The night concluded with the guys playing Xbox on the big screen. I think a fun time was had by all!

It was my night to get up with babies and for the most part they did ok. Carter (as usual) slept thru the night until 5am but Ms. Caroline was up at 1am then 230, then 245. Finally after that she crashed until 5am. I fed them then and put them back down and they were sound asleep until we were awoken by our house alarm going off! Alex had opened the back door to get something and didn't realize the alarm was still. Needless to say, it was not the best way to start the day... It's 10:45a now and the babies are napping in their swings and I'm still in jammies with my 2nd cup of coffee.

It's hard to believe that just a couple of months ago our lives were CRAZY! The babies were much more high maintenance and we were exhausted! I'm afraid to say it but it seems to have gotten easier overnight almost. The babies are napping (kind of) consistently now and are so much fun when they're awake! They're starting to sleep more at night and that helps everyone! I guess we've kind of gotten into our groove...finally!

I never thought I'd say this but...

2010-12-16T22:15:00.000-06:00

Caroline and I were back at the pediatrician's office this afternoon after she ran a temp of 101.5. As it turns out she's got another ear infection (surprise, surprise). I never thought I'd say this but I'm glad she has another one. Only because this means that Dr. E finally agrees that she needs tubes. I know that sounds crazy but after getting tubes myself (just a few years ago) and Alex getting tubes (the same time I did) I am much more reassured that this is the right decision. I'm so ready to be done with ear infections! We'll now be referred to Dr. G (our ENT doc) for a consult then to schedule the surgery. I wish we could get it done before the end of the year (since we've met all of our out-of-pocket maximums) but I doubt that will happen. The surgery will be done at the new MTMC and I'm very confident that things will go well.

Oddly enough as soon as I got home from the doctor with Caroline I noticed that Carter was running a fever as well :( This means that we'll be back at the pediatrician's office tomorrow morning to have him checked out... Who knows, maybe we could get a 2 for 1 deal on the surgeries! Ha!

On a good note, when I got to Dr. E's office tonite they informed me that "Molly" had been by. Molly is the formula rep for them and my new best friend! LOL! Dr. E has been more than generous in supplying us with LOTS of sample cans of formula. A few weeks ago they supplied us with 48 cans and just today Molly dropped off 24 more cans of formula for us! Wahoo! That's an additional 24 days of formula! That will save us about $350! I can't tell you have blessed we feel to have such a caring and generous pediatrician :) It definitely makes paying those $15 copays well worth it!

Just goes to show you that you never know what the day will bring! This morning I never would've guessed my day would end this way...

Love,
E

The perfect morning!

2010-12-16T08:33:00.001-06:00

As I sit here writing this blog Chris just left with Alex and Carter and Caroline are playing quietly (yes, I realize I just jinxed myself!) on their playmat in the middle of the living room... I have my first cup of coffee right next to me and my Mom and Dad will be here any minute to visit! I don't know a better way to start a morning :) All of my Christmas shopping is done (with the exception of stocking stuffers) and I'll be wrapping everything today. It's blistering cold outside and has been colder this year than ever before. We've had temps in the single digits and windchills below zero. For many of my northern friends that's not a big deal but here in TN that's WAY too cold!

Life is good. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends and families near us! It's hard to believe but in just 3 days the babies will be 5 months old! Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday I couldn't wait to "not" be pregnant anymore! The babies are doing wonderfully and are growing leaps and bounds! Caroline is still a little bigger than her little brother weighing 15lbs to his 14lbs 11oz. They are each showing us their unique personalities already! Carter "talks" to us all the time and Caroline is trying her best to roll over! She's so close! They're both starting to reach out and grab things they want and are starting to get attached to familiar faces. I love to hear Caroline "talk" although she doesn't do it very often. Her voice is so deep compared to Carter's and she can pretty much get whatever she wants by smiling :) Carter is such a beautiful baby as well. His big gummy smile will melt just about anyone! We're finally rid of all the ear infections that plagued them over the past month and for the moment everyone is well and happy!

I was thinking this morning about some of the blogs I follow and how envious I am of those Mommies. Somehow they manage to update their blogs so frequently! I am lucky if I get in one post/week but they are great at keeping their blogs current! One Mommy friend in particular has a way with words and her blogs make you feel like you're really there with her!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from the past week or so...

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

2010-12-12T22:31:00.000-06:00

What an exciting year we've had! It's hard to believe that it will soon be 2011! The babies will be 5 months old in just 1 week! It seems like time is flying by...

It's so hard to believe Christmas will be here in just 2 weeks! Shopping is mostly done with the exception of stocking stuffers and a couple more gifts for Chris... I can't wait to see Alex's face Christmas morning and his reaction to his gifts! I know he's going to be thrilled ! It's snowing outside with about 2 inches already on the ground and a temp of about 25 degrees! Brrr! For Tennessee that's cold! Looks like I'll be driving the 4-wheel drive tomorrow to work and hopefully won't slide around too much!

We got to spend the afternoon today at Mom's house with my brother (aka Uncle Robo) and sister-in-law (aka Aunt Jen Jen) and it was so nice to have someone to give the babies to! Ha! I know that sounds bad but sometimes it's so nice to know that they are taken care of and I can just relax! Whew!

We've been very lucky to have had Mana (Chris' Mom) stay with us alot lately. She's been a wonderful help! Alex loves seeing her and I know she LOVES seeing all the kiddos and playing :) She'll be retiring soon so hopefully we'll be able to see a little more of her in the near future!

Chris passed his latest CPCU test! Wahoo! or Yahooey (as Alex would say!)! This means we are just one test away from a trip to Vegas! The next test will be sometime in March/April so we've got a small break for now...

Well, I'm off to work on Christmas cards...I"m running out of time to get them out! I'll try to post again soon :) I'll leave you with a couple of updated pics of the twinkies. They are growing leaps and bounds! Caroline is 15lbs and Carter is 14lbs 11oz!

Snip, Snip and Christmas Decor!

2010-12-03T14:01:00.001-06:00

What a starter, right? Well, that's our lives at the moment :)

The tree is up (finally!), the banisters are lit and the candles are in the windows :) I LOVE Christmas time! Now time to go shopping! I finally finished shopping for the twins but still have shopping to do for Alex, Chris and Uncle J.J. (by the way, what do you want J.J.?)...

And then there's the snip-snip... We (obviously) decided after we found out we were having twins that we were D-O-N-E with babies! So it was time. The "procedure" was this morning and went well. Chris is on the couch with instructions to lie flat on his back for 48 hours. Also, no lifting anything over 10lbs until Tuesday and yes, that includes the twins... Should be a fun weekend! Thank goodness for Grandma's and good friends!

On another good note, Chris passed his CPCU test on Wednesday! For those of you not in the insurance world, this is AWESOME news! This was test #7 out of #8 and when he finishes the last one (next March/April) we get a free trip to Vegas and he will officially be certified! This means he'll then be known as Chris Scogins, CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter). This (in the accounting world would be equivalent to a CPA) is a pretty big deal for us. Chris has been working VERY hard on this and it will hopefully open a few more doors for him at work... Wahoo! The trip is October 2011 and will be shortly after our 10 year anniversary! So our plan is to renew our vows with Elvis! LOL!

I'll be taking the twins to the doc this afternoon to recheck their ears. Hopefully we'll get a good report and we'll be done with ear infections for a while! Wish us luck!

Love,
E

Attitude and Earaches...

2010-11-28T17:17:00.000-06:00

That pretty much describes the past few days... Alex has gotten an attitude with us over everything! He squints his eyes and gives us a mean look. Seriously? At 4? We keep sending him to his room but honestly I don't think it's doing any good at all. I know he's "starved" for attention since the twins were born but at some point he's got to realize that the world doesn't revolve around him!

Then there the "Diva". Otherwise known as Caroline. I swear this child is going to put us into an early grave! She's learned (at only 4 1/2 months old) that if she cries, we'll pick her up. Even her daycare teachers have told us she's spoiled! LOL! But on top of it all she's had an ear infection in her right ear that won't go away. She's on her 3rd round of antibiotics (already had the Rocephin shots) and feeling miserable (at least that's what it sounds like)! Since Thanksgiving it's been nothing but screaming babies it seems! Will it ever stop???

Happy Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T09:13:00.000-06:00

Happy happy thanksgiving to all our friends and family! What a beautiful day it is here in TN! It's a little breezy but it's sunny and warm! The end of November and the high today is expected to be in the high 60's! We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! The turkey is smoking outside, Carter is asleep in the bouncy seat, Caroline is on the play mat on the floor and Alex is out "helping" Dad with the turkey! We are doubly blessed this year! With the addition of Carter and Caroline our family is now a family of 5! When I say that out loud it sounds crazy! I never thought I'd have such a big family!

I made the decision last night to move all of Alex's toys up to his room. My living room looks like a mini Babies R Us. An exersaucer, Johnny jump up, swing, 2 boppies, bouncy seat, Elmo floor toy, 2 bumbo seats and play mat. Wow. I was starting to feel claustrophobic! Anyone want a cat? LOL! I'm cleaning out! I felt bad at first but after getting the opinions of several friends (thanks to Facebook!) I figured I wasn't that bad of a Mom :) I remember growing up I kept all my toys in my room. If I wanted to play that's where I went. Well, there or my brother's room! Granted we had a 1 story house and now we have a 2 story house with the kids rooms upstairs but still. With 3 kids under 4 if I don't get ahold of this now it could seriously get out of control and soon!

After talking with Chris last night we made the decision to take Caroline in tomorrow to our pediatrician to see about getting a referral to a pediatric gastroenterologist. She's on Enfamil AR (added Rice Starch) and we're also adding 1 tbsp of rice cereal to each bottle and she's on 1 tsp of Prevacid/day but she's still spitting up quite a bit. The babies are just over 4 months old and the spitting up should be greatly reduced by now according to our pediatrician. I give her the Prevacid 20 minutes before feeding her and they're only getting 6oz (we backed down from 7oz b/c we thought maybe she was spitting up b/c she was too full) and she still spits up. We're at our wits end. And the really bizarre thing is that most of the time she spits up 2-3 hours after she eats!

We have so many things to be grateful for this year but first and foremost we are thankful for our families and friends. We are truly blessed to have amazing friends and families. Thank you to each and every one of you!

We love you guys!
E

A road trip!

2010-11-21T20:54:00.000-06:00

Well, as it turns out it was a bit of an eventful weekend after all! We started our weekend out Saturday with a trip to the newly renovated Opryland Hotel! We were hoping for a good Christmas card pic and I think we got one :) Here are a few of the good ones (but I'm saving our card pic for Christmas!)...

We couldn't get a serious smile out of Alex for NOTHING! We finally bribed him with gummy worms and chocolate milk! Ha!

My Brother (Uncle Robo) and his wife (Aunt Jen Jen)

Already a diva :)

So, a fun time was had by all and by the end of the afternoon we were all POOPED from all the walking!

Love,

Finally Friday!

2010-11-19T22:43:00.000-06:00

It's finally Friday! And no one has to work tomorrow! I think this is actually the first weekend we've had to relax! No one is sick (knock on wood) and it's just us :)

The babies slept great last night (of course, it was Daddy duty!) for Daddy and didn't get up until around 4am then were back down once paci's were reinserted! They were back up at 6am for a feed so that's GREAT! We are THRILLED with that! Carter woke up this morning with a 102.3 fever so I called the doc once again. Apparently that's a side effect of the shots they got yesterday and totally normal. So, he got to stay home and play with Nana today.

I'm starting to think about Christmas cards so we'll be taking a trip to the Opryland Hotel tomorrow with Uncle Robo and Aunt Jen Jen in hopes of getting a good family pic for our card this year... If we're not successful we'll probably just stop by Portrait Innovations... We'll see how it goes...

I'm including some recent pics of our little ones for your enjoyment!

Love,

What a week!

2010-11-18T20:30:00.000-06:00

What a week it's been! Honestly I can't even recall most of it! We've all been sick over the past few weeks and now Daddy has it. He starting feeling ill on Sunday and went to the doc Monday. He's started antibiotics and is feeling a little better thank goodness!

Today I took the twins for their 4 month "well-baby" check up. The got 2 shots and an oral vaccine. Carter now weighs 13lbs 10oz and Caroline is 13lbs 14oz. They are growing beautifully :) They are both 24" long as well. We've been given the go-ahead to give them rice cereal in their bottles now as well! Yay! Hopefully that will help them sleep better!

He checked their ears as well while we were there and while they are better than before, they still have fluid in them. So, we'll be back in a month for a re-check (assuming we have no more infections before then).

We were scolded a little :) for not giving them more tummy time. They should be trying to roll over soon. They HATE to be on their tummy! But, we'll start working with them in hopes that they'll be rolling soon!

That's all for now. Time to wake and feed babies then off to make formula for the next 24 hours then hopefully a good night's rest. It will be a LONG day tomorrow!

Love,
E

Two fussy babies...

2010-11-11T18:44:00.000-06:00

Fun times!

Shot day #2

2010-11-11T09:06:00.000-06:00

She has no clue what's about to happen. She's about to get her 2nd Rocephin shot (big needle done intramuscular)... Thank goodness tomorrow will be the last one...

Ugh! Sick, again?!?!

2010-11-10T07:57:00.000-06:00

Let me preface this by saying no one in the house has a fever... However, Caroline is still in alot of pain from her ear infection. She falls asleep only to wake up 5 minutes later screaming in pain. So last night was Daddy duty and the twins were a BIG handful. Neither of them slept well so neither did Daddy. And Daddy needs his sleep. Caroline cried so much that she's hoarse this morning.

So this morning, when Alex woke me up at 6am it was game on! After talking to the on-call doc twice last night she suggested we do 3 shots of Rocephin. So, here I sit (again) in the doctor's office waiting...

Elizabeth L. Scogins
"Bloom where you're planted..."
www.scogins.com

Sent from my fabulous iPhone!

Asleep at the table...

2010-11-08T07:12:00.000-06:00

Already sound asleep and the day's barely begun!

A sick Carter...

2010-11-07T23:14:00.000-06:00

Passed out @ Nana's...

2010-11-07T23:13:00.002-06:00

Sweet Carter...

2010-11-07T23:13:00.001-06:00

My first blog...

2010-11-07T10:48:00.000-06:00

I've decided to start blogging. I have written journals in the past but they never seemed to last. I always got distracted with something else and the journal got dropped to the bottom of my to-do list. I'm doing this for all of my friends and family to keep everyone up to date on our lives as well as for some quiet therapy for myself!

Over the past several months I've started following several blogs online from other twin Mama's and love how they are able to capture the normal day to day activities and dramas by writing them down...

It's hard to believe but tomorrow the twins will be 16 weeks old! In some ways it seems as though the time has flown by and in other ways it seems like every day drags by. Alot of this depends on the mood in the house and how well our kiddos are behaving at the current moment. The babies have been battling ear infections now for the past 14 days... They were started on Amoxicillin but that didn't knock it out so now they're on Omnicef. Hopefully that'll do the trick. Carter has ear infections in both ears and Caroline has one in her right ear. It's funny, you can definitely tell the difference between boys in girls in this house... Carter (throughout most of being sick) has been our happy, cooing child while Caroline has fussed like no one's business! She is definitely the diva of the house!

Chris and I are still getting adjusted to being parents of 3 kids. Whew! What an adjustment it's been! Most days feel like we're on a hamster wheel and can't get off or that it's Groundhog day all over again... However, we've started to notice that there are beginning to be moments of calm in our house. Like right now as I sit on the couch with my 2nd cup of coffee, the twins are napping in their swings and Chris and Alex are installing a ceiling fan in the nursery... A moment of calm we'll have to try and remember. It's all to easy to let these moments pass us by and only see the hamster wheel.