Want $30 towards Holiday Cards?

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*and yes, I am a dork who was not operating with a full deck last week.  I had posted this correctly, then it somehow got switched to the reviews site by accident.  I'll still pick the winner on Friday :)

Shutterfly Holiday Cards

Everyone knows how I feel about paper goods, so it should be no surprise that soon after hearing about Shutterfly's awesome deal for bloggers I jumped on the bandwagon!

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Getting My Groove Back

I very rarely post about myself, but I've come to realize that the blogs I enjoy reading the most aren't always about the kids in the house.  In fact, I sometimes get bored with those blogs. 

Lately, I've begun to "dress up" again.  I have ventured into the land of skinny jeans and tall boots, and I think I like it!  I actually weigh a few pounds less than I did pre-pregnancy, and I looooooooove being able to say that since I without a doubt, unequivocally, looked like a beached-whale during my pregnancy.  It's ok, I own it.  :) 

Nathan has made reference to the fact that he's proud of how I look now, and that makes me smile.  Although I should take that and run with it, I can't help but follow that with "you mean like the-fact-that-I-birthed-twins-hot, or hot-like-I-used-to-be-hot?"  Judge me if you want, but having been a fairly vain person for most of my existence, I want to know. 

I've also gotten into cooking lately, and I have to admit, I'm turning out to be good at it.  I literally used to cry at the fact that I stunk at making mostly everything, and that Nathan would never be happy with our meals unless they were served from his mother's kitchen.  She's a great cook, and he still has his favorite dishes that I will not attempt to make because I can't take the comparison factor!  I figure that I will one day have "signature" things to cook for the family, and I'll stick to those.  For now, Grammie can do the biscuits and gravy and chicken pie (and probably many more that I can't think of : ). 

Where was I going with this post again? 

Yeah, I think that's why I have written about the rest of my household for so long.  They are what I do, and it's almost as though my identity is wrapped up in being Tyler & Caroline's mom.  I'm trying to step back into my old shoes just a little bitty bit, and be the sassy, dressed-to-the-nines chick that I've always taken pride in.  That's harder than it sounds, believe me.  Maybe if I'd gone back to work I wouldn't struggle with it so much, because I would be forced to throw on one of my cute Ann Taylor outfits & 3" heels, sit behind my desk and exchange adult-only emails from 9-5 about things like trade shows, flight prices, and launch dates.

Fortunately, that is not the case.  I absolutely LOVE staying at home with my babies, and there is not one thing in this world I'd rather be doing.  When I see those little dirty-blonde-heads running around this house and bringing me their newest "discoveries," I revel in the fact that they're growing up and learning new things every day.  Caroline can now pick out all the farm animals I ask her to, and Tyler simply loves to pull out the pots and pans and "stir" what he's cooking.  They really do grow up so fast, and it's a great reminder each day that what I do matters, especially to them.  I have the ability to really mold them into great people, and it's got to be the most esteemed "job" out there.

With all that said, I guess I'm getting to the point of figuring things out.  I'm still learning how to balance it all, but it sure feels great to go out in public without a track suit on!  (Ironically enough, I'm sitting here typing in one.  Wearing them around the house is a different thing altogether.)  I've also been asked to provide the desserts for the entire family this Thanksgiving, and I'm hoping to impress everyone with my stellar apple pie and hopefully-decadent banana pudding.  Who knows, I may start a recipe page at the top of this sucker before long. 

Ok, enough rambling.  I hear a muffled, congested cry coming from the nursery and that means that my hair will get dry by itself today... lovely.  Blogging is a tough gig when you have so many balls in the air.  ;)

Purely Pitiful

I realize that I've been a pretty crappy blogger lately, but who can blame me when I have a child that looks like this?

I took this with my blackberry, which explains the terrible quality, but you get the idea I'm sure.  Poor Tyler started having a runny nose last Thursday, but just enough to where I noticed.  He sure didn't.  By Friday night he was completely stuffy, and by Saturday he looked like this.  His eyes were weepy, he couldn't breathe through his nose, and he had zero energy (yet couldn't sleep well with all the congestion).  As if this wasn't bad enough, after dinner on Friday night Nathan started complaining of a stomach ache.  He drank a few swigs of Mylanta and figured it would go away.  Throughout the night, I periodically woke up to a super, super sick husband trying to pick himself up off the bathroom floor (not really, but that should paint a good picture for you.  You're welcome!).  He somehow contracted a nasty virus, and I just knew that one, if not all, of us would be next.  I had not exactly been keeping my distance from him, so I seriously prayed God would spare me from catching it.  What in the world would we do if I got sick?!  Seriously, that would be cause for calling in backup grandmothers or something. 

Luckily, ::knocking on wood as I type:: it looks as though both Caroline and I are escaping the boys' ailments.  Nathan was quarintined in our bedroom for about 24 hours after his initial sickness, and despite my best efforts to keep Caroline apart from Tyler and his germs, I have failed miserably.  She just cannot keep herself from drinking out of his cup, picking up anything he's had in his mouth and putting them in hers (small toys, pacis, etc), and kissing all over him.  Sweet, but not what I want right now.  Maybe she's been exposed just enough to build up a better immunity?  Let's hope so, and that I don't eat my words in a few days. 

As of now, Tyler is still pretty congested but he's on the mend.  We even made it outside for a nice walk yesterday morning before Nathan went to work, and I took a few more poor-quality blackberry pics.  We threw jackets on them and let them ride in their pajamas, but don't judge... it was seriously almost 80 degrees when we made it back to the house.  See?  Caroline even tried to get some sunbathing in.

And yes, she is buckled in.  She's just a little houdini when she wants to be.

13 Months

Until yesterday, someone asking how old Tyler and Caroline were would hear "they just turned one!" in reply.

Yeah, not so much.  It finally hit me that OH MY GAH, they're practically 13 months old now, and I have no idea how four weeks went by so fast.  So today, my reality is that THEY ARE 13 MONTHS OLD.  We went to the Columbia Marionette Theater this morning to see Jack & The Giants and I actually uttered those words when questioned. 

Good for me, as it's all about acceptance, no?

All I can say about this month is that they're more fun by the day.  I'm not even just saying that, as I'm beginning to feel like I have companions during our day-to-day activities rather than babies.  They are so expressive, and just love to give kisses to me, Nathan, and finally, each other. 

We are in process of working out some kind of routine at the moment, because they're not always down for two naps a day anymore.  At times they crave them, but at times they fight like the devil to stay up and play.  They've discovered life outside of their bath seats at night, so that's always a fun struggle, and they absolutely love to emulate everything I do.  From brushing their hair with my brushes, to strategically placing headbands on their tiny noggins, to doubling up a strand of pearls around their necks (sssssssshhhh, don't tell Nathan that I let Tyler do this on the regular!), they just have a blast doing it all.  You can tell they're so proud of themselves, too.  Their favorite game at the moment is to pick up something from the floor, then offer it to you, then jerk it back and run wildly around you as you try to take it from them.  Caroline invented it a few weeks ago in the middle of getting ready for bed.  I can't even describe how amusing it is to see two naked little tots running in circles around their bedroom, thinking it's the funniest thing EVER to be chased from their nightly lotion.  Once one of them has been captured and is in the middle of getting greased up, the other will snatch the Cetaphil from my lap and take off, uproariously laughing all the while.  Amazingly enough, I'm able to wind them down with the drop of a shirt...

Which brings me to the fact that we're still nursing.  A lot.  I thought at one year I would easily wean them down to two nursings a day:  morning and night.  That has not exactly gone as planned.  I'm not sure why I thought it would be an easy thing to do, but honestly, I'm just not that worried about it right now.  I'm at home and with them 24/7, so there's really no need to battle it out when they're obviously not ready to give it up.  Tyler has become the "neediest" lately, and he will borderline throw a fit if he's ready to nurse and I'm not dishing out the goods.  This, on the other hand, is a potentially hazardous situation... any ideas on how to teach him patience? :) 

They also won't drink milk, at all, ever.  I've tried strawberry syrup, chocolate syrup, Carnation instant breakfast mixed in (which tastes like a vanilla milkshake), Almond milk, Soy milk, smoothies... everything.  They simply don't like it.  I've never been one for milk myself, but I thought that kids just naturally took to it.  Not mine, obviously.  I guess that's another reason that I'm not willing to be hardcore with the breastfeeding, since I want them to get milk somewhere.  Hopefully if I keep offering it to them with their meals, they'll eventually come around.  (Oh, and even more hopefully, maybe one day they'll stop feeding 80% of their food to Connor). 

When they're not feeding Connor, they're often playing on top of each other like this:

That pretty much sums up what we're doing these days, so I'll leave you with a few pics from our weekend.  We found out about Riverfront Park during our one year photo session with Danielle, and decided to spend Sunday afternoon walking along the Saluda River and enjoying the mid-60-degree weather and gorgeous fall colors.  Hard to believe it's almost time to hang the Christmas wreaths and remove the mums!

You can't help but laugh, right?

While Tyler and I were enjoying a few vanilla goldfish from the living room, I heard Caroline screaming bloody murder.  She had been playing by herself in "their cabinet" for a while, so I got up to see what could possibly be the matter.  This is what I found. 

She had wedged herself inside the cabinet, with her wee little rump positioned perfectly inside that red bowl.  Although she got in, she certainly couldn't get out.  Instead of being a tender, loving mother and helping her out immediately... I ran to get my camera.  It was just too priceless not to document :) 

I'm terrible, I know, but all was forgotten soon thereafter.  Amazing what hugs (and goldfish) will do!

Halloween, Weddings, Museums, Oh My!

I'm sure you'd never guess, but we've been traveling!  HA!  I'm pretty predictable, no?  :)

I had to laugh last night when I got a comment via email that asked if my blog was basically over now that Tyler and Caroline are one.  That's probably the way it looked, huh?  Sorry... but it was as if I could let out a huge sigh of relief when all the pictures and parties and hoop-la surrounding their birthday had passed.  I just decided to give myself a break and not worry about running to the computer the minute I got everyone in bed for a week or so.  I honestly didn't think anyone would notice!  Either way, I think that on top of having a zillion things to do every day and feeling as though I will never, ever, catch up, this blog was the first thing I let slide.  Am I the only one who used to think that being a stay-at-home mom meant you would have time to watch Ellen (no, not Oprah... I'm over her) every day while dinner simmered on the stove and children played quietly?  I really didn't think it would be so hard to keep it all together. 

I'm such a perfectionist, Type A personality that I'm honestly incapable of not keeping it all together.  I guess that's why I either (a) get stressed or (b) turn into super mom/wife that needs to prioritize.  If I were a gambler, I'd wage a guess that ironing clothes and blogging fall to the bottom of my "to do's" when this scenario is upon me. 

But enough about that!  Let's move on! 

For Halloween this year, I was planning on Caroline and Tyler being doctors.  My cousin Julie had mentioned that she bought them these precious mini-scrubs for their birthday, so I thought they would be perfect for the super warm day that we were expecting to have.  Every costume I saw was huge and thick and made for cold weather, and I knew they'd burn up since it was supposed to be in the 70's.  The only thing I bought for them "costume-like" was a pair of pajamas that happened to look like a skeleton, so when we approached the actual holiday and the scrubs hadn't come in yet, skeletons they were!  I figured it wasn't that big of a deal since we weren't taking them trick-or-treating, and I honestly didn't think it was worth spending $40 on two costumes that no one would really see.  So, on October 30th, we dressed them up in their black & pink pajamas and took them to Five Points (downtown area) for some fun.  All the local shops and restaurants were giving out candy, and they had things like pumpkin painting and orange fountains included in the festivities.  Nathan had to go to work at 6pm that night, so we spent an hour or so there before he headed to the hospital.  I wonder if people thought he was in costume? :) 

Playing on the deck (in process of being carpeted, as you can see) before Five Points

For the record, I didn't intend to let them actually eat the candy they were given, but pulling the wagon means your back is turned.  One time I whipped my head around to check on them and discovered Caroline chowing down on a miniature Reese's cup - HILARIOUS!  She was enjoying it about as much as her birthday cake.  I just let her have at it... I mean, who am I to stand in the way of a girl and her chocolate?

The next weekend, we loaded up and took off to Murphy, NC for my cousin's wedding.  It was a five hour drive from Columbia, and lucky for us, our GPS took us right through Greenville to get there... we got to eat our most favorite Chinese food for lunch!  Yay!  :)  Connor was along for the trip and got our leftovers (which was about half a piece of chicken, unfortunately), so even he was happy.  Our drive up was beautiful, as we got to climb through the mountains of both Georgia and North Carolina to get to Murphy.  It even started snowing, so that was pretty cool.  We had the rehearsal dinner that night, then all four of us plus our four-legged baby piled into one small hotel room.  Can you say nobody slept a wink?  Pure. Misery.

Saturday morning finally came, and we pulled it together and enjoyed a gorgeous wedding that afternoon.  It was bitterly cold, but the sun came out just as the bride walked down the aisle. 

Mr. & Mrs. Morrow!

& The reception... toasty warm, thankfully :)

They matched in their argyle sweaters.  Ha!

The Best Man, Papa - Mimi Kaye - Granna - Pa Jolly

 Caroline loving the cake!

 (Am I being judged by the entire internet for the amount of sugar my child seems to eat?  I bet so).

 I didn't take one single picture with my camera, so these are stolen from facebook.  When my mom uploads her pictures, I'll add a few of our "family" shots.

We drove down to Lake Bowen after the wedding so that we could get some rest, since staying in a single room together just wouldn't cut it for another night.  Tyler & Caroline were serious troopers for as much riding time they endured, and Connor was a perfect puggle in his crate in the back.  We enjoyed the lake all day on Sunday, and even got to take one last boat ride to wind down the season.  Once again, no camera & no pictures.  Just close your eyes and imagine all the other hundreds I've posted... minus the bathing suits, adding coats, gloves, and toboggans.

Finally, we are now back at home and trying to resume normal activities, like going to Sam's Club...

Couldn't help myself.  Local patrons, beware... I might just whip out my camera and send your picture to peopleofwalmart.com when I spot a mullet such as this.  Perfection!! 

(Sam's is essentially Walmart on steroids, so it counts).

Tyler & Caroline were clearly amused by the whole experience.

And FINALLY, this post is wrapping up with our trip to the local children's museum, "EdVenture."  Last night was free entry, so I decided we would head over and see what it was all about.  Needless to say, it was packed, so T & C were confined to their stroller for the most part.  I'm not nearly brave enough to give free reign of a museum to my running toddlers while single-handed!  There was a gated section just for little ones, though, so I let down my germ-a-phobe guard and allowed them to play for a little bit.  Tyler went crazy over the ramp to the pirate ship, and I couldn't believe his balance while walking up it.  I struggled with it, so what does that say?  Caroline went up and down a time or two, but she wasn't nearly as excited about it as him. 

This was hilarious.  A little girl was trying to climb up while Tyler slid down, and he gave her the stank-eye.

 "Pleeeeeeeeease Mommy, I'm over this....... Let's get out of here."