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!