New Beds or Two Beds??

As Mila peeked into the extra room, I can't tell if she says "new beds" or "two beds". Both are true! Two new toddler beds for Areli & Mila were being assembled!! Friday morning they woke up to the last morning in their cribs.

Buenos Dias! (That's "good morning" for you gringos!) You can tell Mila takes a minute longer to wake up.

But in no time they are up and silly!

"Look Mama, No Feet!!" I wonder how I've made it this long without either one climbing out of the crib.

Out with the old, in with the new...

And you'll never see their room this clean again.

I think they like them!

Free night #1: Not bad.

Naptime #1: Completley unsuccessful, no nap.

Free night #2: Very good.

Naptime #2: Much improvement, 1 hr.

Free night #3: Perfect!

Nap #3: disaster, crying, no sleep

Night #4: Not good, up at 12 & 1.

*Special thanks to Tia Brooke!

God always provides

Terry has been working for Hewlett Packard for SEVEN days!! So far, he is very happy with the new job and is even carpooling with some coworkers already! He will be working in Little Rock for the rest of this year until the Conway office is completed. We are both so thrilled and thankful that it is going so well.

I got to take pictures for his ID badge. This was my personal favorite, but Terry, for some reason unknown to me, submitted a different picture.

The long story... Terry was laid off from Sperion/Acxiom in 2007. We were so stunned being that the company had previously been talking of promoting him. However God's plan was revealed to us when, after mom's accident, Terry was able to be home with both our kids and my sister's kids while we were all at the hospital for many weeks with mom. Well, a year later Terry was also let go from his fairly new job at Staffmark. Does God have a quirky sense of humor, or what? Terry wasn't happy with that job anyway and had actually already been looking for other jobs (which is part of why they let him go) and had interviewed with Hewlett Packard. Less than a week later, he was given an offer! We enjoyed the holidays, both being off work!

We are so grateful that God has provided this wonderful opportunity for Terry and for our family.

Christ filled Christmas!

We had blessed Christmas in 2008!

Areli & Mila opened a few presents under our tree Christmas morning. And enjoyed looking in their "big socks" for treats.

A few days earlier we went to the Twins Club Breakfast with Santa. I was so proud of Mila for giving Santa five! They have both been so scared of him before (even this same day). But after opening her gift, she went up to him with no problems to get some help with her new earrings! The rest of the day she would say "Santa Five!"

What's better than a Jungle Gym? Papi of course!

It's a cold, wintry night. The ground covered with tiny ice pellets. Areli and Mila have finished their bath and have their jammies on, but aren't quite tired yet. What to do?... Play with Papi!! And by "play with Papi," we mean "play ON Papi!"

Watch the video and you'll see exactly what I mean! The quality isn't great - it's from Terry's phone and the girls often move so fast it blurs. There's no sound. :( At the end of the video the girls each say "Thank You, Papi!"

I almost feel sorry for Terry, but they were doing the same thing to me, my bladder, and my ribs in a much more confined space 2 years ago!!

Testimonies From the Twin Trenches

I can't say it any better, so here's a brief by Cheryl Lage (from twinstuff.com)

Invariably, when out and about with my two-year-old twins, a compassionate (and maybe just a wee bit nosey) stranger asks, “How in the world do you do it ?”

The fun part for me? Deciphering to which “ it ” of the perceived twin-raising challenges the curious bystander is referring.

Is “ it “ the dually-provoked sleep deprivation of the first few weeks? [She was lucky if it was only a FEW weeks!]
Is “ it “ the inevitable division of Mommy’s energy between two fully dependent infants/toddlers? Or is “ it “ simply the day-to-day, down and dirty rigors of juggling a double stroller, two carseats, a packed-to-the-gills diaper bag, and two sets of distinct needs?

The truth? “It” doesn’t get any dirtier or more rigorous than potty training twins.

Here are a few pics from "the Twin Trenches"!!! You can imagine the sound effects that go with each!

On the bright side, Mila has gone several days with no accidents!

I'll close with this, as I remind myself each day..."Better to have your hands full than empty!"

Looking for a unique Chirstmas gift??

A very good friend of mine is the owner of Guitars and Cadillacs. It is a great place to buy gifts for that person who has everything. They sell Texas gift bags and all kind of gourmet foods, all packaged in a fun Texas theme. Everything from salsa & jelly to armadillo droppings! They also have fun Texas clothing for adults and kids. If you want to go check out the website, the address is http://www.guitarsandcadillacs.com



This is Mila last summer in her Texas Girl outfit!

TWINS! Excuse or actual cause?

OK, so maybe i'm an idiot for actually admitting this on the internet, but here's to honesty and making my friends laugh (even if it as laughing AT me)!

I drug Terry (the girls came willingly) to Hobby Lobby last night to buy us all Christmas stockings. It took forever (according to Terry) because I wanted them all to coordinate. It turns out stockings only come in coordinating sets of 3, never 4. I finally decided on 2 sets of 2 and we checked out just as the store was closing. Today we went to Crackel Barrell for breakfast and I found more stockings I liked. So I bought 4 more there and decided I'd compare my two options and take back my least favorite. This afternoon I decided to look at all 8 of our new stockings. "Terry, where is the bag from Hobby Lobby?" I didn't see it in the house, so he checked in the car, but it was nowhere to be found. So I called the store and asked if anyone left a bag of stockings last night and the guy said "yes, at the last register." Exactly! So Terry got the lucky task of going to pick up my forgotten bag. Guess I paid, but never picked up the bag! whoops! (This is not surprising because a few months ago we went to Shorty Smalls Express and forgot to pay. The cashier eventually came to our table with the check saying "you can pay whenever you're ready.")

But the story gets worse... after a while T calls asking who I spoke with at the store cuz they can't find the bag. I didn't know, so they kept searching the store (although whoever I talked to knew exactly where it was, he was aparantly MIA). Meanwhile, I go change a diaper and notice this strange sack on the dresser. What's this? Our stockings!! uh oh! So I call T back and tell him they can call off the search cuz I had them at the house the whole time. oopsie! In my defense, I only stopped looking around the house because the employee on the phone said they had it there!

Happy Thanksgiving!! We have so much to be thankful for! My special thanks this year is for the group hug I get when Areli & Mila hug me at the same time! Blessings! (Even if they do make me lose my mind sometimes!)