First Family Vacation

In July we took our first ever, family vacation to.... Galveston, Texas!  I've always dreamed of vacationing with my family to beautiful, far away places, but when the time to actually book a flight with my almost two, two year olds I chickened out.  I was equally nervous about road trips.  We decided to head to the coast for Mike's triplet, sibling's birthday to test the water, so to speak.  All of my concerns about schedules, driving and packing our house up were for nothing.  It was perfect and they were angels!  We booked a family-friendly hotel with a great pool on the beach.  Grayson and Hallie loved playing in the sand and swimming in the pool during the day.  They were exhausted, took great naps and slept like little rocks every night.  They ate up all of the attention with family and proved to us that traveling with toddlers was a breeze!
Now excuse me, as I start planning our next family getaway!

Mother's Day 2016

We enjoyed a perfectly sweet Mother's Day with family.   This year was particularly special to me, as I have become intently aware of the beauty that is motherhood.  More than ever, I appreciate the beautiful and strong women in my life who have helped shape the woman I am today.  I realized as I was picking out cards, seven to be exact; that I am surrounded by an army of incredible women.
Mom and I started a new tradition of spending the day and having lunch at the Dallas Arboretum.  We call it our happy place.
On Mother's Day, Aaron, Grayson, Hallie and I went to Starbucks for a casual breakfast and surprised the Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers with roses from the twins.  H&G were thrilled to give out each rose and the grandmothers, even more so.  
Mom and Mike hosted a BBQ with the Clark's and Thomas'.  Tommy and Kathi were in town and spent the evening with us as well.  I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day with family.

Motherhood has been the most beautiful gift.  I really couldn't ask for more.

Bluebonnets

Bluebonnets & toddlers.  Enough said.

18 Months

My 'babies' are a year and a half!  I still call them babies, and yes, probably always will.  I fully understand they are toddlers, but I am not quite ready to say so (despite being corrected a few times already.)  The older they get the faster the time goes.  Do all moms spend the early years wondering how the time passes so very quickly??  Are all moms overwhelmed with love and emotion at these milestones, regardless of how hard the day/week/month has been?  Do all moms experience 'Mom guilt' for anything and everything (working, not working but sometimes wanting to, patience or lack of, needing a day off, breast feeding or not, letting them eat proceeded foods, allowing Mickey Mouse to entertain for thirty minutes while I sit and space out) ?  The list goes on.  And on.  I've learned so much, but have so much still to learn.  My constant prayer is that I will parent with patience, grace, self control, joy and love.  It's a daily struggle to be all things to these precious people entrusted in my care.  I do my best and trust He will carry me the rest of the way.  Motherhood is beautiful, messy, exhausting and rewarding; all wrapped into one (or more) sweet, cuddly, moody, snotty little being.  I am so grateful for the privilege of watching them learn and grow.  It's the coolest thing in the world to see your tiny baby transform into a walking, talking and thinking person.  Who will she become? What will his passions be?  What will they dream of?  Wow!

As of right now, we are watching two very different toddlers, (there I said it) learn and experience the world.

Grayson is 'all boy', as my mom would say.  He climbs, wrestles, head butts and tackles his way around the house.  He says several words, but on his own time, and rarely when encouraged.  He belly laughs when he is tickled, and lights up when he sees animals at the zoo.   Water is his jam.  The dog bowl, the bath, his water table and any running water thrill him to no avail.  He falls, gets up and goes after what he wants.  It's fascinating to watch him learn to take things apart and put things back together.  He watches us and then repeats to the best of his ability.  He was quick to figure out how to open our doors, which makes for a busy mamma!  The word no is more of a light suggestion as far as G is concerned.  The only effective time out is putting him in his crib for 45 seconds.  We have tried other methods and he laughs, so crib it it.  Fortunately, it's not often, but happens on the occasion he outs his hand inside the fireplace or hits sister.  Grayson's little spirit is so full or joy and wonder.  He is my light.

Hallie is sweet as can be, and little sensitive too.   She is experiencing a language explosion that has been so much fun for all of us and her memory is amazing.  She answers questions, calls, jabbers non-stop and repeats everything we say. Shortly after she started saying her name, she started calling Grayson by her name.  She associates him with her, as I am sure many twins do.  If we ask her where Grayson is, she will point to him, and say very proudly, Hallie!  She has trouble with G's and only smiles and grins when we ask her to say Grammy.  Grammy is dying to hear her name!  Hallie loves to hold her stuffed animals and pushes them in her play stroller. Adorable!  She has a sweet little smile and smirk when she knows she has said or done something funny.  She is very gentle and soft in her touch.  This little girl makes us laugh day in and day out with her smarts and sweet expressions.

Both love the outdoors and reading books.   I like to think they got that from me, ha! We do a lot of both during our day.  Getting out of the house is a little harder when it's just the three of us, as they are bigger, faster and more opinionated about what we do.  Certain activities are saved for when I have help, such as playing at the park, being near water ect.  They tend to go in opposite directions so we stick to visiting friends/family or places they can sit their stroller. I'm a little bummed we can't do swim play dates with my friends this summer, but such is life with twins!  We have entered a phase of not wanting to share mommy's lap or arms.  I have mastered the shared lap and often have to sit down where ever we are, because both need to be held NOW.   While they don't necessarily play together they follow each other and play near each other most of the time.  I can't wait to see their interaction and bond grow over the years.

Love. Joy. Patience. Self Control. Peace.  Gentleness. Goodness. All things I pray to embody and want to exemplify in my home.  As one friend often says, they are watching and listening, soaking in each word.  It's a BIG role, and I pray and commit to giving it my all.

Grayson and Hallie, you complete me!  Love, Momma

More Illness to Report

We hoped for just a cold, but instead got RSV.  We dreaded RSV last year as it is particularly dangerous in preemies.  We did our best to avoid it, but at least it came at a time when they were stronger and healthier.  Along with the RSV, Hallie got a rash that covered her whole body, caused her face to swell and ended up taking a trip to Cooks Children's by ambulance. The rash was unrelated to RSV.  It is called Uticaria Myltiforme and is not usually dangerous unless unless the throat started to swell.  Thank God, that did not happen to Hallie.  It is basically a reaction to a virus, nothing more.  The terrifying part for parents is that it comes out of nowhere and spreads rapidly, looks terrible and causes swelling.  Grayson was suffering from RSV, having trouble breathing and feeling downright terrible as this started with Hallie.  As she started to recover from her rash we started seeing signs of RSV and of course, she got it, too.
It took two full weeks of doctors appointments (nearly daily), breathing treatments, sleepless nights and a lot of help from Mom before we were finally out of the woods.  They each ended up with double ear infections to top it off.  We decided enough was enough and pulled them from the church and gym daycare. They are still putting things in their mouths and are not yet learning much, just playing and acquiring germs. Since then, we have been healthy aside from a minor cold or two, which we can totally live with after the nightmare of more serious illnesses.
Spring where are you?!  We are ready for a season of health and wellness in our home!

We ended a rough few weeks on a sweet note.  Daddy, Grayson and Hallie showed up to work to bring me roses.

Melt a mamma's heart!

Stomach Bug, Stitches and Road Trips, Oh My!

The Clark family left January feeling a bit beat up. The stomach bug took us down one by one starting with Grayson. Of us all, he seemed to handle it best; Hallie, daddy and I weren't as lucky.  Poor Hallie was a mess, she didn't understand what was happening to her.  She cried and slept a lot. We spent one entire day snuggling on the couch, I'll call that the silver lining.  It was pretty awful to watch the littles so miserable.  Being sick as a parent takes on a whole new meaning and that meaning is, there is NO time to be sick!  Fortunately, Aaron and I got it at the front and back end, separately.  He was fully recovered by the time it hit me.  Just thinking about it again makes me feel ill all over!

Poor little Hallie had two Stiches in her forehead last week.  She was playing at Nana's and slipped and hit her head on the mantle.  We hoped we could glue or butterfly, but due to swelling that wasn't an option.  She handled it like a champ until the two (painful) numbing shots were adminstered and she had to be held down. Daddy does better than me with this kind of thing.  I was backed into the corner, teary eyed while he stood over her and tried to keep her calm.  By the time we left she was in good spirits, thank goodness!  I assumed, my rough and tumble Grayson, would be first to hit this unwanted milestone, but sister to beat him to it!  Minimal, if any, scarring is expected.  

We are now on our way back from a great weekend in Conroe with Mike's family and wouldn't you know it, we are dealing with another illness! G woke Friday night with fever and a cough that is giving him a hard time at night.  There wasn't much sleep to be had, but we had a blast aside from our latest ailment.  Hoping it's downhill from here and crossing fingers (tightly) this one bypasses Hallie.

Nana and Hallie at our lunch stop. 

Grayson made a new best friend and can't wait to go back to Mimi's. 

Fun on the golf course. 

Five Years of LOVE

Aaron and I celebrated our fith anniversary last week.  It's hard to believe it has been been years already.  I speak for both of us when I say, that we look around us and are in awe of our blessings.  Being parents has been trying, but has also brought us closer together, sharing such a sweet love for our children.  We exchanged our traditional letters and spent the evening downtown Fort Worth.  We walked through Sundance Square after dinner to take in the gorgeous tree, fountains  and lights galore.  We even danced together downtown.  It was my perfect version of our anniversary, romantic and festive!