Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Giving Thanks

I love the holidays. I always have. There is nothing better than good food, good wine and of course good company. I can remember being young and counting the days until Christmas. Christmas Eve to be specific, as that has always been my favorite day of the year. And Thanksgiving meant the countdown could begin! Holidays always seem magical, especially so when I was a kid. I can remember dressing up like pilgrims and Indians and having Thanksgiving feasts at school. And who can forget the Thanksgiving craft that seems to be a staple in Kindergarten classrooms across the nation? Yes, the imprint of your childhood hand made into a turkey. I remember being asked to write down the five things I was thankful for and that got me thinking about the five things I am thankful for today. While some of them have changed as I have matured, the core is pretty much the same. So here are my five "fingers" of thanksgiving:

1. Our jobs: I am so grateful that in a down economy both Gash and I have steady jobs.

2. Our home: I have loved making our little house into a home. It is truly a place that I can easily see my children growing up in. We have made so many great memories here already and I know the best are yet to come.

3. My friends: a girl could not ask for more supportive, loving and genuine friends. These women make me want to be a better friend, mother, and wife.

4. My family: we are blessed with the BEST parents, sisters and brothers. I honestly do not know what we would do without them and I feel so lucky to call them our family.

5. My husband and children: I saved the best for last. It was just last year that Gash and I spent every night praying for the miracle of new life. It was just last year that I spent many a day in tears. And now I spend every day with the two most beautiful babies in the world and a husband who has taught me what true love really is.

What can I say besides I am blessed and so THANKFUL for ALL the gifts that God has given me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We turned three months on Tuesday. . . Time Flies!!!






Thanksgiving, Round ONE in Gastonia












Round TWO at the lake house . . .We love our new tradition of fried turkey Friday!




We also squeezed in the Bickes family Christmas card. . first one in about ten years?
 

 
Saturday we hit the road again to watch the Clemson vs. Carolina game in Spartanburg!





Just a few more of our favorite babies . . . 




Sunday morning snuggles. . . . 


Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Love Letters

A year or so ago, Gash and I put together a picture book detailing the life of his grandfather, Seldom. One of my favorite parts of this project was seeing the pictures and letters that Granny and Seldom wrote to one another while he was stationed overseas. Granny would send pictures of herself and their babies with inscriptions on the back through snail mail, a mailing system that has long been forgotten with the introduction of text messages and emails. Today, in the world of technology, we no longer send pictures with handwritten notes. Instead, we send pictures by email or in a text message or by updating a blog. Today, we don't miss a moment.

So, when Gash is at work and away from his two favorite babies, it is my job to send him pictures and updates. He requires it. Just like his grandparents so many years ago, we send each other notes throughout the day and although they arrive much quicker, they carry the same meaning, and that is family and love.

I thought I would record a few of those "love letters" here:
 









Love these babies!


Baby its cold outside. . . 


Another Picture? We were so good in church can we go home already?


Look at those muscles my brudah has!!


Sweet baby girl . . . 




What happens when mom leaves the house . . . 


Sweet baby boy!



Snuggles with daddy



Monday, November 12, 2012

Blame it on the lack of sleep

New moms, well moms in general, seem to suffer from a constant lack of sleep, and I am definitely in that boat these days. I can't blame it solely on the two newborns that now reside in our house, seeing that they are pretty consistently sleeping about six hours. There are many factors that contribute to these sleepless nights. From worrying about my children and all the things on my to do list to what I like to call phantom screams where I jump out of bed only to find Ashton and Mary Seegars sleeping peacefully. And so begins the years of sleepless nights where a five hour stretch quickly changes from the worst night of sleep ever to a gift from God. Lately, I have noticed the toll this lack of sleep is taking on my organized, type A world. And so when I burn dinner or feed the dog cereal, I simply blame it on the lack of sleep.

I thought I would record a few of these instances, some that resulted in tears, some in uncontrollable laughter:

One Saturday, after the babies had only been home a week or two and were still eating every three hours at night, Gash and I were watching the Clemson game. I had the babies all dressed up in their Clemson gear and Mary Seegars's new orange bow was set to arrive in the mail that very day. When the mail came, I ran out and was so excited to find the package in the mailbox, her first bow! I rushed upstairs, put it on and called Gash over to check out how cute it looked. Gash, without batting an eye or cracking a smile, simply asked "why did you put it on Ashton?" We'll just blame it on the lack of sleep. Probably won't be the first time he plays dress up seeing that he has a twin sister :).

Now for my worst parenting moment, my Brittany Spears moment, a moment that will not happen again, we hope! We had spent the day at Fall for Greenville showing off the babies as they slept soundly in their cars seats. At the end of the day, the babies were hungry and we made it back to the car just in time for the blood curdling screams to start. We snapped the car seats into their bases and jumped in the car. I sat in the back with pacifiers in hand trying to calm the babies for the five minute ride home where their bottles awaited. As we pulled out of the parking lot and onto Church Street, I noticed that something was wrong. I then joined in on the screaming, only I was yelling for Gash to pull over. The babies were not buckled into their car seats! Gash promptly pulled over so we could buckle them in and say a quick prayer of thanksgiving to the babies guardian angels. I will admit I cried a little over this one and begged Gash not to tell anyone. Now, here I am posting it on the web, so please do not call DSS on us, we blame it on the lack of sleep!

And now for the inspiration behind this post, a blunder I both laughed and cried about. On Tuesday, we got the babies birth announcements/ Christmas cards in the mail. I spent a lot of time searching the Internet for the perfect card and then creating the announcement itself. It is really cute and turned out better than I even thought it would. Except for one thing. One pretty big thing. I, the mother of these two beautiful children, picked out the cutest pictures, correctly recorded their weight and height but INCORRECTLY posted their birth date. So now I have one hundred adorable Christmas cards that say the twins were born on October 20th! Trust me, I am very aware that my babies arrived on August 20th. I was there, my stomach was cut open, and it was the most important and miraculous day of my life. But somehow, blame it on the lack of sleep, I mistyped the date. So when you get your announcement in the mail this December, pay attention to the cute pictures, their names, weight, and height but ignore the birthday, they are actually a whole two months older than the recorded date!

I know there are many more things I could add to this list, but I can't seem to remember them . . . Blame it on the lack of sleep!

Tummy Time and Play Time on their "gym"



Sweet Angels



 I laid them on the bed pretty far apart in this picture and when I turned back around they had scooted themselves close to each other. . . sibling love!



Mary Seegars actually fits in her 0-3 month clothes now!!!


Uncle Sloan came over to hang out


Love those baby smiles!!!



This picture is blurry but out of the hundreds of pictures I take a week it is the only one where they both are smiling!


Some of my favorite pictures so far.  Mary Seegars loves a good photo shoot; Ashton was not as into it!






Ashton did, however, love watching football and super hero movies with his daddy . . 



My favorite part of the weekend . . Sunday morning snuggles . . .