Monday, January 21, 2013

Quality Time

This week we have not done much.  No holidays, special events, or people in town. And it sure has been nice.  While I love being surrounded by all of our friends and family, it has been great to spend some quality time with Gash, Ashton and Mary Seegars.  A weekend full of naps (for baby and mom), movies, family walks, playtime, and dinners in was just what the doctor ordered!

A few milestones to report . . .
January 16th, Ashton rolled over back to stomach.
Mary Seegars is laughing up a storm.
We think they are both teething, but most of this is still a guessing game for us!

Ashton and Mary Seegars are starting to interact . . . 


They love to talk to each other and make the other one laugh!


Sometimes, I can barely take their cuteness!


Mary Seegars is all smiles!


Sometimes . . .


 Clue #1 that they are teething. . . 


Ashton is beginning to look more like a boy than a baby!


Sending out a few emails before his next bottle . . . 


Ashton now loves to sleep on his stomach.  
He and his big brother Murphy love to snuggle and take a short nap . . . 


I can not believe my babies turned five months old on Sunday!

Slow down sweet babies!!!





 

Monday, January 14, 2013

And off they go . . .

I remember saying I would never send my kids to daycare.  I WOULD be a stay at home mom, no questions asked.  But, then, life happened. And bills happened and mortgages and loans happened and well the search for daycares began.  And so, a week ago, I sent my two most precious possessions to be cared for by someone else, someone who was not me.  It was not easy and may or may not have involved a middle of the night panic attack where I suddenly could not breath and woke up Gash in desperate need of reassurance (dramatic, yes; the truth, sadly).  However, after I calmed down and after I shed a few (o.k. a lot of) tears on the way to work that morning, I realized that my babies were going to be just fine; I was going to be just fine.  That fact is largely due to Mrs. Hiam.  Thank God for Mrs. Hiam.  It has only taken me a week to fall in love with the woman taking care of Ashton and Mary Seegars.  Each day, when I walk through the door and I am greeted by Mary Seegars's giggles and Ashton's delighted squeals, I am reassured that we made the right choice.  Although my babies are with someone else during the day, we are all going to be just fine.

First day of "school"


Ms. Hiam and Ashton



Miss Priss


Getting better at tummy time


Chillin' . . . 


Snuggles with daddy


Chunk a Monk



Playtime. . . 
We love the exersaucer!




Taking over the living room!


Sure is hard to leave these sweet faces every day!


Sunday, January 13, 2013

God's own forever

"Every good and perfect gift comes from above" - James 1:17.  I am certain that James knew what he was talking about when he said this so many years ago.  There is no doubt in my mind that Ashton and Mary Seegars are a gift from above and that while they are my children here on Earth, they are God's children forever. Therefore, it has always been important to Gash and I that our children grow up in a church.  Our parents instilled in us the importance of a relationship with Christ, and we hope to do the same for Ashton and Mary Seegars.  So, we took the first step this Sunday when we had the babies baptized, and the day could not have been more perfect! Our family and friends helped us celebrate one of the most special days in our young babies' lives.  Gash and I feel so overwhelmed by the blessings we have!

On Sunday, January 6, 2012, Ashton and Mary Seegars were baptized at Christ Church. 

Uncle Jamie and Aunt Anne Caroline are Ashton's Godparents.

Uncle Bryant and Aunt Mandi are Mary Seegars's Godparents.

The banners that were hanging in church . . . 


Ashton wore the same gown Gash was baptized in; his gown was over one hundred years old and was worn by the original Roy Gash.  Mary Seegars wore the gown I was baptized in over thirty years ago.  






 The grandparents and great-grandparents made the trip to Greenville for the special day.


Blessed by such great Godparents!


 After lunch, we went back to our house for a special celebration lunch . . . 





Lots of friends and family celebrated with us.





Saying goodbye to 2012

This New Years, it was hard to say goodbye to 2012.  You see, 2012 has truly been the most amazing year of my life.  It all started January 26th when I rushed home from school to take a pregnancy test.  After two years of negatives, I saw two pink lines and I can not put into words the joy that came over me.  The pregnancy was confirmed the next day with a blood test and when the nurse called me with the results and said "congratulations mom", I cried.  I cried happy tears because all my life I had looked forward to the day that I would be called mom, and for the past two years I was not sure if that was going to happen.  The next nine months were a roller coaster of emotions (with way more highs than lows); we found out we were having twins, we saw the babies for the first time on an ultrasound, I felt the babies move for the first time, my friends and family threw beautiful showers for us, and I fell even more in love with my husband.  On August 20th, my life changed forever when I met the two babies that I had been praying for every night, every hour, every minute.  Ashton and Mary Seegars exceeded every expectation that I had and they were more beautiful and their cries were more perfect than I could have ever dreamed.  I have truly loved every minute of being a mother (yes, even the middle of the night wake up calls).  So, saying goodbye to 2012 was definitely difficult (the champagne did help some ;)), but I know that 2013 has some wonderful things in store and I can not wait to spend it with my amazing little family!

The babies were ready for the game and all decked out in their tiger hats thanks to their Aunt Debbie!!


Ashton was so excited that the Tigers won he could not contain himself!


We rang in the New Year with some great friends at the Bryan's house. 
We may have had a LITTLE too much fun!
 







We even had some little celebrators in the crowd!
 



On New Years Day, we hosted the second annual New Years Day Oyster Roast at the Donlan's house.  The babies got all dressed up and we had a great time with friends
 




Four month stats:
Ashton: 16 pounds 4.5 ounces (64th percentile), 25.5 inches long (60th percentile), with a 16.75 inch head circumference (73rd percentile).

Mary Seegars: 11 pounds 6 ounces (3rd percentile), 23.5 inches long (10th percentile), with a 16 inch head circumference (46th percentile).