Thanksgiving

Well I sure did wake up Thanksgiving morning feeling silly about my pity party from the night before.

What a wonderful gift, to be the mother of these children.

Paige is in the phase of acting like she is various animals. And she names herself, too. But most of the time, she says things like, "I am a dog. My name is dog. I say ruff ruff!"

Thanksgiving day was wonderful! We slept in, I got to go for a nice, long run outside (sans strollers!), kiddos napped, then we headed over to mom and dad's!

My niece, Ava, always puts Paige in the BEST mood.

And my cousins came up (Jordan is at UT in Austin and Colin is a junior in HS in Dallas) with my aunt and uncle.

Paige, being a dog again.

Ack! Love him!!

Big, sweet boy!

Paige wore her red boots to dinner. She loves them!

My mom did a great jog setting the table. And she made a kids table, but my brother and his family had another meal to go to, so they didn't get here until later. Paige sat alone, but she seemed to do just fine : )

It was chilly today, but we still went out for some fresh air.

Jack and Braley are changing every single day. I know that sounds cliche, but it really is happening right now. They are still very much babies, but I see personality coming out. They are wonderful, and I truly can't imagine life without them here! I don't remember what it is like to just have 1 child. We are blessed.

Sassy thing found a pair of my high heels before we left for Thanksgiving dinner. David and I were worried she was going to roll her ankle! But she was a pro.

Sigh. What an amazing gift, being a parent is. I am thankful.

And one last...my mom got Paige her first pair of 3T jammies. Enjoy every second, mommas. It goes fast.

Today, I got to go for another long run, we got our tree, decorated for Christmas, and went to dinner just the 5 of us. We have the OU game tomorrow, a birthday party for a sweet 1 year old, and family day Sunday.

Hope everyone had a great day with family and great food!

Boomer Sooner!!

Keeping it real

2 12 month old boys, post 4 shots each (MMR, chicken pox, some cough one - uggh, I suck and can't remember, and the flu shot booster), each with a runny nose, Braley with 2 molars coming in, Paige cooped up being home from MDO for the week...

I am spent. Sometimes, and I hate to admit this...but sometimes I feel like a bad mother. I look at my tiny little guy who is in pain and not feeling well, and I can snap at him and say, "STOP CRYING! What do you WANT?!?"

And with 3 kids, you would think that I would learn to roll with changes better, but I just can't. I like things to be black and white. I am a by the books person. I read all the books, I know how things are "supposed" to look, and I want them to look that way.

So when Braley won't drink milk when I think he should (you know, according to "the books") it sends me in to a tizzy (is that even a word? even if it isn't, trust me, seeing me frazzled with 3 young kids warrants the use of the word tizzy) and I just can't understand why he doesn't want to comply with the schedule. And I KNOW this is insane! I know that no one told HIM what my schedule was. No one told him he should be drinking X amount of milk, napping at X time, etc. These are all things I want them to do. And my pediatrician confirmed that he will take what he needs, and I know this - but try explaining that to a frustrated mom with 3 crying kids on her hands.

I typed this post out twice and deleted it. I mean, tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I'm not sounding very thankful. But, well, I like to keep it real.

Having some help for the next few days and hopefully the twins feeling better will bring brighter days. And I am excited to see the boys eat mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie for the first time. This is what it is all about, and I know that.

Thanks for reading, and happy thanksgiving!!

xoxo - Megan

12 month check.

Despite what these photos show, we had a great appointment!

David and I were pleased to hear that our boys are doing wonderfully! Developing right as they should be.

12 month official stats:

Jack - 21lb 11oz - 35%, height also 35%, head - 75%

Braley - 19lb 9oz - 10%, height also 10%, head - 90% (bless him - tiny boy, big head!)

So they are both perfectly proportional, and that is about as good as it gets! Braley for sure doesn't eat as much as Jack and drinks way less milk, but he is growing, developing, and thriving! She assured me he gets what he needs, which I knew, but it is nice to hear reassurance from their doctor. LOVE her, by the way.

Sometimes, I feel like David and I are in a dream land, where you only ever get good news at doctors appointments. I pray it stays like this forever.

Pledge

David and I are working on teaching Paige the Pledge of Allegiance. Why? Beats me.

See below for a long update post!

New schedule for the boys! Long post...

Cold and rainy today! Not what I was hoping going in to a full week of Paige being out of MDO. We made it to the gym and grocery, and I got the crazy idea of trying 1 nap a day for the twins.

Brilliant. Genius. Best idea I have ever had. Seriously.

The boys had seemed not ready to go to bed lately, even at 8 PM. Their morning nap was extending longer and longer, then they weren't wanting to take an afternoon nap until 3 or later, making them not ready for bedtime. So I decided to give it a whirl, and our day went like this:

Wake: 8, breakfast straight away

Gym: 9-10

Straight to grocery

Lunch: 11:15

Nap for all 3: 12 - 3!!!! It was wonderful! For all involved. The kids all woke up in great spirits.

Bottle of milk for the boys: 3:30

Dinner for all 3: 5:15

Baths: 7

Bottles for the twins: 7:30

Bed for all 3: 8 (and when I say 8, I mean they were all in bed fast asleep at 8. Perfect).

I am loving this schedule. My mom had planned Thanksgiving dinner to be at 5 PM to accommodate the twins' schedule. But I called her today and was excited to tell her we could do it earlier now : ) It's the little things...

We were running late this morning to get to the gym, so all three kids showed up in their PJs. And we kept them on all day.

I love a boy who is man enough to play with a stroller. I hope he makes a good daddy some day : )

And also a man who can cook!

Paige loves to RUN! She has me say, "read, set, GO!" and she takes off back and forth in the playroom.

Have I mentioned on here that Paige is potty trained? Yipee! It was pretty easy, to tell you the truth. We decided at 2.5, it was time (for Paige - I know that every kid is different - some are ready at 2, some not until 3, some later than that). So we put her in panties, kept her drinking a lot of water, and put her on the potty every 30 minutes or so. She took to it right away. In less than a week, I am happy to say she only wears a pull-up at night. Even a trip to the gym, grocery store (gone from 8:30-11) she had no accidents! We are struggling with #2, but everyone assures me that comes in time. I am so proud of my big girl!

Jack and Braley have their 1 year check tomorrow morning. David is coming to help me and I have someone watching Paige, so this will be one of the least stressful pediatrician visits I have had in quite some time!

I hate titling blog posts.

Jack and Braley had zero appetite when they were sick. I hated it so much. Braley is such a little peanut and I felt him getting smaller and smaller. But they sure are making up for lost time! They are loving eating anything and everything. Paige and I came back from the store today, and I opened up a carton of blueberries, and the three of them ate the entire thing in about 5 minutes.

My big eaters!

Fun weekend planned here. Paige and I went to the gym and lunch with friends today, and David and I are going on a little date night today. And tomorrow, we are having several friends/neighbors over to watch the OU/Baylor game.

There was almost a beatdown at Paige's MDO yesterday. I overheard a woman (dressed head to toe on OSU cowboy gear) saying that she and her husband were getting each other national championship tickets for Christmas. I called David when I got in the car and went off! "Do they not realize they still have to play OU? And what happens MOST years when they play OU? " LOL - I am a little on edge about the whole situation with my Sooners. Really hoping for a victory tomorrow against Baylor, next week against ISU, then the big showdown in Stillwater. BOOMER!!

A random 1 year post

Jack and Braley are 1 today. What a blessed day, indeed. Not to mention, I caught every green light on my way home from taking Paige to school.

My big one year old boys, in new jammies from Aunt Brookie:

And a lil' preview of big man in his birthday hat ; )

We celebrated birthday-eve with a trip to Target. So we didn't have to buy diapers and are 100% off formula, yet I still spend $125 + at the grocery. Dang natural/organic foods!

We also got a little crazy yesterday - the fridge repair man was here (and is still not fixed. FML.) so we brought the highchairs in the twins room and ate in there.

I am also on a weightloss kick. Yay me!

And I had to snap one last photo of BABIES! : (

Jack at 1 year:

Diaper = size 4 clothes = 12-18 months

Favorite foods = cheese, yogurt, bananas, cheerios, sweet peas, chicken, grapes, blueberries, banana puffs, goldfish, loves milk and water

*biggest mommas boy. He follows me around the house, loses his mind when I leave a room, or when a babysitter shows up - watch out! Big boy throws his head back and CRIES!

*seconds away from walking. He is all over the place and can crawl to the top of the stairs within a few minutes.

*says mama and dada to the appropriate parent

*when we wants something, he yells, "nanananananana!" It is pretty funny

*He has also started expressing displeasure by kicking. Good times.

*Excellent eater.

*Happiest baby I have ever seen.

Braley at 1 year:

Diaper = 4, but could easily wear 3s. He is tiny.

Clothes = 12-18 months, but again, could easily fit in 6-12. I just like to keep then in the same size, at least for now.

Favorite foods = any fruit and veggie pouch by Happy.Tot, cheerios, turkey, cheese, grapes, mac n cheese, all veggies pretty much, black beans, waffles, likes water, but really not in to milk.

*He is finally pulling up to stand. God love him.

*Still doing the army crawl. It is really cute. He is always pulling up the rear when the kids take off for somewhere.

*Snuggles like no baby has ever snuggled before. So adorable - he sucks his thumb and loves to just lay on your chest.

*Sensitive, smart, inquisitive. He loves to wave, clap, and his favorite song is the itsy bitsy spider.

*By far the most sensitive/high maintenance of my 3 kids. He is a special little boy. And man alive - does he ever love his momma! : )

I can't imagine how I got chosen to be the mother of these amazing little boys.