P&C's First Christmas

Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year. The smells, the joy, the excitement, the anticipation, beautiful decorations, yummy food at every turn...and most importantly, the celebration of the Birth of Christ. While it's always special, sharing this season with Parker and Caroline took it to a whole new level.

It was such a joy to celebrate their first Christmas. While they are still really little and don't understand just yet, it was fun to share their first experiences of twinkle lights, Christmas trees, opening packages, candlelight Christmas eve service at church, and even their first taste of peppermint bark. And I got a few photos to document it all. ;)

They are such buddies and I love it.

From the tree in their bedroom to their stockings above the mantle, I just loved seeing their items around the house. 

Christmas Eve my two elves helped me wrap the last few packages and load them up for our Christmas celebration with my family. (They're looking to their right in every photo because Dave was standing over my shoulder making them laugh. We need to work on that! haha)

Our tradition is Christmas Eve candlelight service at church with my family, dinner, games and gifts. 

My Papa passed away last year and in honor of his 80th birthday (which was days before Christmas) my family gifted this Nativity set to our church's children's department. We took P&C to see it on Christmas Eve and it was such a joy to see them! Caroline loved touching Baby Jesus and Parker just smiled looking around. I can't wait until they fully understand the magnitude of that baby born the first Christmas night!

When we got home from church we had Christmas dinner and it was beyond bedtime for the littles. They opened a few of their gifts and then it was bedtime. 

However, I have one little chikadee that suffers from an extreme case of FOMO. (Fear of missing out!) She basically has radar when people are around and fun is being had. So, in an effort to not miss a single thing, she rallied. Girlfriend went strong until 11pm and loved every minute of being a "single child" and being showered with attention.

Santa came when we got home and I couldn't wait to see their reaction to their Taxis!

Christmas morning was so much fun. So many smiles and so much joy!

I know two somebodies who are ready for their first trip to NYC!

Cheesy, maybe, but these are certainly the most precious gifts I received this year. 

 


After "Santa" at our house, we stopped by my parent's for the babies to open their stockings and they got adorable tiny chairs.

We then headed Southbound 35 to Dave's parent's house.

I know I've said it before but I just can't believe I get to be their mom. I am so thankful for the opportunity to experience "firsts" with them and to celebrate holidays in a new way. God has been so good to us and I can't help but praise Him for these 2 precious, crazy, busy, silly and scrumptious babies. 

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and I wish you a wonderful new year! 

Guess What Day It Is...

Happy Wednesday, friends. Can y'all believe it's December? I say this every year but I just can't believe it's almost Christmas and then 2014! On one hand this year has flown by and then it's also kind of stood still. I can't believe how the babies have grown and changed and aren't even really babies anymore. They are so much fun! Complete hot messes, and will be crawling before I know it.

Our new accessories are our helmets. The babies got their bands about a week and a half ago. They both prefer turning their heads (necks) a certain way (which is exactly how they were int he womb) and apparently it's pretty common for twins. They kind of "get in position" in the womb and have their spot and their necks can be stronger on one side than the other. With that, no matter what we do they prefer to sleep/sit/stroll with their head laying on one side. So we started the Doc Bands to re-shape their heads a bit. 

Surprisingly, they have adjusted beautifully! From day 1 they didn't really mind it and I was shocked when they actually slept in them. For the first 3 nights Caroline woke up in the first hour fussing but we rocked her back to sleep and now she's fine and doesn't wake up. I think she would wake up and have trouble soothing herself back to sleep but now she's found a comfortable position and has no trouble. They went back for their first adjustment and have both responded beautifully in such a short time, so we're crossing our fingers that maybe they could be done with them in 10 weeks?

This was our first morning after getting the bands. We have since "blinged" them out just  little bit :)

    

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at the lake. We made s'mores, sat by the fire, celebrated my sister's birthday, and relaxed. I made Pioneer Woman's apple pie and it was delicious! That woman never disappoints me!! We also took a few photos....

I decorated my trees before we left and was so glad to come home and get right into the Christmas spirit. The babies just love the lights! It is the cutest thing in the world. Every morning when I go to get them up I walk in their room and plug in their tree and they both immediately turn their heads and start "talking" and get so excited. I might need to leave it up all year!

Christmas pjs are in full effect and y'all...I just die! It's the cutest thing in the world!! It really is the most wonderful time of year :)

(In case you're wondering, they get to have their bands off for an hour each day. We usually bathe them and then let them have a bit of time before bedtime without it on. And I put a bow in her hair because It's the hour a day where I can, so you know I do!!)

I've spent any free time I've had the last couple of days putting together wish lists for the babies and for me. I'll be back in the next couple of days with some fun gift ideas for those still on your lists! 

Friday Randoms...

As promised, I do have something other than my children to talk about! 

And all the people said...."Amen."

There's a little about my kids too because, well, I'm a stay-at-home-mom...they are 13 of my 16 waking hours and sometimes some of my sleeping hours too. It's kinda my wheelhouse right now. But I had things to talk about before my children and surely I still have a thing or two to contribute to society. So, here goes!

I made Pioneer Woman's chicken pot pie the other night and it was top notch. An absolute winner. I followed the recipe but used store bought pie crust (I used the Pillsbury dough) and added frozen peas. I put them in after the celery and the carrots had cooked and softened a little. Next time I will double the recipe and make one to freeze.

In other food news...pears are so good right now! I have made this salad for a few lunches this week. It's not anything shocking or revolutionary. Just romaine, bleu cheese, dried cranberries, pears, toasted pecans, and Girard's light champagne vinaigrette. You can add chicken, substitute pistachios (my favorite!!) for pecans, gorgonzola or feta for the bleu cheese...the list goes on and on. I also like balsamic dressing with this salad. Quick and yummy!

We had our annual Wurstfest feast. For those of you who are unaware of our annual gig, Dave's hometown has a huge German festival called Wurstfest. It's the "10 day salute to sausage". Yep. You read that right. His dad is apart of the crew that puts it on and we always go, eat our weight in fried food, Dave gets his fill of German beer, we hear really good polka music, see an abnormal amount of adults wearing chicken hats, and have Dave's "unofficial high school reunion". This year we went during the day because we took the babies. Call me old but that's the way to go! No lines for food, you can actually walk around because the crowds aren't so thick, and you can carry on a conversation without yelling. Good grief...I might as well go to Luby's at 4:30.

Parker with his Pops. Getting the low-down on the lederhosen.

Caroline and my Nana watching the carousel horses. Y'all, I die over watching these two together.

Then, P&C had their first ride. Caroline LOVED it! Parker was pretty unfazed. :)

I've gone ahead and put up my Christmas tree. Cast stones...call me crazy...I get it! No, I don't hate the pilgrims, I'm not trying to rush Thanksgiving, and I'm not ungrateful...quite the opposite. I LOVE Thanksgiving! And I don't host. So I enjoy going and spending time with my family and knowing that when I come home my Christmas stuff is up. It's more of a process with my time divided with the munchkins so it's been nice to do a little at a time. The babies love the lights! I am so excited to celebrate their first Christmas with them. 

My rosebush is blooming like crazy! I've brought several inside because they are so beautiful! My Papa's favorite flower was the red rose. These are a bit of a red/pink but they still remind me of him. 

We celebrated Nana's birthday on Monday. She had some helpers! P&C loved helping her open her gifts.

And finally...we're babysitting today. or, I guess I should say dog-sitting. :) The Gyllenhaals are here so it should be fun for all. Parker LOVES Miss Maggie! 

I'm sure none of you actually made it to the end of this marathon recap but if you did, I hope you have a wonderful weekend! It's pretty cold here so I see cider and indoor activities in our family's future. 

Happy weekend, friends!!