New friends

Over Thanksgiving, Jillian and Lauren made several new friends. Here are a few of the highlights.

Pic 1) Grandpa Jack (my mom's dad) - Baby Lauren loved Gpa Jack. He's the life of the party. Once you meet him, you're never the same. It was such a blessing to have all four of the great grandparents on my side of the family here for the holiday!

Pic 2) Cousin Kyle - Kyle used to be a football player - the girls looked so tiny next to their massive cousin!

Pic 3) Greg is Andy's lifelong friend from Northview and college. Greg and his wife Danielle (pic 6) are expecting a baby boy in March! Hooray!

Pic 4) Cousin Kara - Their stylish cousin gave the girls lots of love and attention. I know the girls will love getting hair and fashion tips from her!

Pic 5) "Uncle" Todd is a natural! Andy's best friend was here over the weekend and fed baby Jillian. She sure appreciated it!

Pic 6) Danielle is a soon-to-be-mommy with lots of experience caring for others kids. They've waited a long time for their miracle and will be awesome parents! We are so happy for them!

Happy B-day Mommy!

On Nov. 25, my mom turned 50! Most of her family from Texas and Oklahoma and my dad's family from KC came to town for Thanksgiving and then we had a really fun "Casino" party on Saturday. Don't worry - The pastor's wife didn't gamble with real money. We used fake money and traded in our chips at the end of the night to win fun prizes. My selfless mom planned the whole party, bought the prizes and catered the food. All I was allowed to do was make the cakes (her fave - German Chocolate). A fun time was had by all.

Jillian and Lauren loved meeting all their new aunts, uncles, cousins and great grandparents over the holiday. I think they were only put down for a total of 10 minutes the whole week! Life is good!

Family and friends are invited!

Big girls napping in their cribs

As I type this post, my girls are taking their first nap in their individual cribs. They're getting so big! Mommy and daddy are planning the "transfer" from sleeping at night in their baby papasan chairs, to sleeping in their beds.

So, we're starting out with daytime naps in the cribs. I think they'll do fine at night, but they're doing so well in the papasans that I'm nervous to switch.


These are the challenges of mommyhood that keep me up nights these days. It's so great! I've always loved a good challenge and figuring these girls out has been the biggest and best of my life so far.

I totally enjoy being at home and having the freedom to simply care for my babies, my husband and my home. I've not hit the cold cold winter days yet, when I'm trapped inside, but the first 7 1/2 weeks has been great. I'm sure more experienced stay-at-home moms are just shaking their heads right now, but I'm just going to revel in my joy for now.

The past two nights, the girls have slept 4-hour stretches, which tells me that a full-nights sleep is on its way for me! Jillian would probably sleep all night (she's a deep sleeper), but we're at the mercy of baby Lauren right now. She'll get it soon. I'll take 4 hours if that's all she has to give.

Enjoy the pics of "drama" Jillian, "sweet baby" Lauren and Mommy, Jillian and Josie on a lazy Saturday (I'll spare you the close up lazy-day pic - complete with double chin and drool (I know you're disappointed)).

One more super cute pic!

Nakey Babies

Are these not the cutest baby parts you've ever seen? Okay. I'm a little biased. But are they at least in your top ten?

They are both getting so big and I never want to forget how tiny their little hands and feet were when they were still newborn. Get ready for your heart to melt.







Lauren is fascinated by our fan. She loves when we turn it on. It sometimes looks like she's reaching out for it.

Happy Halloween!

So, Halloween gear was 50% off the day before the holiday, so I splurged and got these cute outfits just for the photo opp. We stayed at home last night and passed out candy to the neighbors. Ryan, Shannon and Jake ("the Pooch") stopped by also and we loved Jake's costume (he even wagged his tail).

Then, this afternoon we got out a new toy - our Gymini Total Playground. It has lots of colors and makes many different sounds. They especially liked the wind chime sound. Jillian is beginning to discover her voice and likes to hear herself make a shrill high-pitched scream. It's loud, but it's cute. Lauren just likes to take it all in. She's not as free at expressing herself as her sister is just yet.