Prayer Request

I know that this blog is usually a place to update all of you on how the twins are doing. However, today I must blog about needing prayer - AND LOTS OF IT! My mom is very sick. She is in the hospital in Meridian, MS with pneumonia in both lungs. She is on the ventilator, which she did not want to do. The doctor told me that she was very near death before being put on the vent. I ask that all of you please pray for my mom. Most of you know that she has been in poor health for the last few years. This is the 3rd time she has been in the hospital with pneumonia, not to mention all of the other problems that she has had. Please just pray. Pray for a speedy recovery. Pray that she doesn't remember being on the ventilator. Pray for me to have the strength to balance being there for my mom with being Caroline and Charlie's mom. Pray. Pray. Pray. Thank you to everyone and I love you all. I will try to keep you all posted.

Happy Halloween!

Cinderella and Spiderman had a great time getting dressed up for Halloween. They really looked adorable, as I'm sure you all can see. The only disappointing thing is that we could not find anywhere to actually trick-or-treat. They had been practicing all week. Everybody's porch lights were off and nobody was answering their phones. What happened to trick-or-treating? Anyway, we did go to family's houses and then went to Mrs. Cyndi Merritt's (Sittee) house for a Halloween party. The children had a great time, ate way too much sugar, and then crashed when we got home. I would say that is a pretty successful Halloween.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

On Saturday, we took the children to the Lazy Acres Pumpkin Patch. It was a cool, crisp fall day. We had a great time. They enjoyed everything from the train ride to the pig races. The highlight, of course, was the hay ride in to the pumpkin patch to pick out our "punkins." They checked each one intently and made sure that they got the exact ones they wanted.
We also took part in another Halloween tradition last night. "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" was on TV. Now, this is one of my favorites and I was as excited to watch it as the kids were. Charlie did not move the entire 30-minute show, except to let me know when the commercials were on and how he wanted "the punkin show back on!" Caroline liked it, too and thought it was funny that poor, old Charlie Brown would only get rocks during the trick-or-treating.

I will be sure to post some photos of the kids in their costumes after Friday. Caroline is going back and forth between wanting to be a ballerina or Cinderella and Charlie is torn between Spiderman and Superman. We will see how it all shakes out when it comes time to get dressed.

God's Great Sense of Humor

I have always considered myself a faithful person. I try not to question God or challenge Him on things. I pretty much take the position that what He wants will be. Well, apparently, He has decided to play a really hilarious (and, by the way, FABULOUS) joke on me. For those of you who do not recognize what the picture to the side is, that, my dear friends, is a baby. That's right! WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!! Now keep in mind that, in order to have the twins, we went through a lot - 5 years, 3 surgeries, 3 fertility treatments, and a number of miscarriages. Then let me tell all of you that Clay has been working nights for almost 2 months now so, "alone time" is not very abundant. Now, you tell me - who else, other than the Lord Almighty, could pull off such a huge "gotcha?" We are so surprised and thrilled to be expecting this little blessing. We went to the doctor today and everything looks great. According to Dr. Max, whom I love more than I could ever express, we will probably have a baby mid-May.
As an added little surprise, most of you know my best friend, Courtney. Well, guess who else is unplanned pregnant! That's right! She is expecting, too. And to make it to over-the-top hilarious, our due dates are 2 days apart! 2 DAYS!!! You can't tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor!!!

I will keep you all posted on how things are going. All of you please pray for a healthy, happy baby to join our family. I send my love to all of you and I can't wait to read the comments that this post is going to generate!

Country Living

Sometimes I am reminded of how lucky I am to be able to raise my children in the country. On Sunday, the twins and I went over to my dad's house. We took their riding toys (Barbie jeep and John Deere tractor) and let them go. As I followed them down the road toward the pond, I was struck at just how precious this moment is. Here are my children playing on the same land that I played on as a child. As we got closer to the pond, I had flashes of my childhood. I thought about how many times my grandfather and I had gone fishing or looked for deer and turkeys. I can't tell you how many times I "counted cows" with Papaw. I learned to drive in that very same field. I took so many walks collecting flowers, rocks, and anything else that I thought was neat at the time. So many precious memories! Now it is my children who are "growing up on the land." I am fully aware of just how lucky I am. So many memories to make - so little time. Country living may not be for everybody, but it is certainly for us.

Back From The Beach

Hello everyone! I wanted to share some of the pictures from our trip to the beach last week. We had a good time. It was not quiet as relaxing as last year's trip. Both of the children had fever right before we left and neither of them felt great that week but we still managed to make memories, which is what it was all about anyway. Some of the highlights include Clay and Phoebe catching a cooler full of fresh crab which made for a wonderful lunch, picking up new sea shells for our collection, and the children playing restaurant with Gran-Gran and Granny in the sand. I think the best part was on Wednesday night. Clay and I took the kids out to eat at the Wharf. We sat outside by the marina and the children watched the boats as the sun was setting. There was a man playing the guitar and he sang "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues." Caroline insisted on dancing along. It was one of those moments that Clay and I both agreed we would always remember. We finished the night with a ride on the ferris wheel. It was really great.

It's About That Time!

Perfectly manicured field. Roaring crowd. Eli Gold on the radio. "Yea, Alabama" playing in the background. I can almost smell the "game dogs" cooking and the bourbon being secretly poured into cokes. That's right, people. IT'S FOOTBALL TIME! I have to admit that it snuck up on me. Yesterday, as I was taking the kids' picture for the Patrician football program, I realized that it's almost here! Now, I understand that not everyone shares the same enthusiasm for Alabama football as my family does, but we just can't help it. We love everything about it, and it's not just me and Clay. Ask my kids what the elephant says and they respond "Tide Roll!" Notice in the pictures that Caroline has her "Ambama bom-boms" and Charlie has his "Ambama bootball." (not a type-o. that's what they say) They wouldn't even consider taking their pictures without them. During this time of close to unbearable heat, the impending football season gives us something to look forward to. We know that, with each passing game, the air will get cooler and, hopefully, the games will get better. So, go ahead and get excited people - FOOTBALL IS ALMOST HERE!

They Were Fine...And So Was I

The girls weekend was wonderful. We had a great time and laughed more than I thought was humanly possible. I have returned to the real world, revitalized and ready to go. And, as I had suppected all along, the children were great. They played. They swam. They even helped their great-grandmother make a cake. When Clay asked Charlie if he was ready for Mommy to come home, he said "No. I'm just fine." At least he acted happy to see me when I got home. So, my mother's guilt has faded and now I've started the countdown to next year's trip.

A Mother's Guilt

I will be the first to admit that I am extremely attached to my children. We wanted to have children for so long and we have gone through so much to have them. Now that they are here, I don't like to leave them very often. I have been blessed with 2 beautiful, healthy, happy, smart, funny, adorable (and the list goes on and on) children. I have also been blessed with the fact that I am able to stay home with them. I have enjoyed these past 2 years more than I could ever express. I say all this to say that, while I love being a mother, even moms need a break. Everyone will tell you that a little time away is good for a mother's soul. It gives us time to "re-boot." We need time to just be, without someone needing juice or a diaper or his tractor or her lipgloss. It is good for us to take time to relax and have adult conversation. That is what is happening this weekend. A group of girlfriends are headed to the beach for a 2nd annual getaway. It is something that we have all been eagerly anticipating since we came home last year. We are all looking forward to talking, lying on the beach, sleeping late, and laughing (a lot of laughing). My brain knows I need this. As for my heart, well, I must confess it is not so sure. The truth is that, even though there are times when I want to pull my hair out, I love being with my kids. I love that they want to lay with me on the couch to go to sleep. I love that they want me to build a fort with chairs and blankets so that we can crawl inside and watch Sesame Street. Bedtime and early mornings will be the hardest. I will have to figure out how to drink my coffee without 2 kids in my lap. I will miss them terribly.

Other Powder Pics

Getting back 10 fold...

What's that Bible verse that talks about getting things back "ten fold?" Well, I'm not sure it was quite ten fold, but my kids "got me back" for one of my childhood mishaps on Tuesday. I have been told all my life that when I was around 3 years old, I decided to re-enact a commercial using a bottle of baby powder. Mom tells that we were at Mamaw's house and they noticed I had gotten very quite. They walked in one of the bed rooms (the one with the dark teal carpet) and found me in a cloud of baby powder singing "Just and sprinkle a day helps keep odors away! Carpet Fresh! Carpet Fresh!" Well, Tuesday morning, Elmo was on and so, with my children focused on learning about violins, I stepped into my room. I was there no more than 10 minutes when I came out and was met with the smell of baby powder. The children were not watching Elmo as I had left them and, to make mater worse, their bedroom door was shut. There is only one word to describe 2 two and a half year olds in their room with the door shut - TROUBLE! Well, people, I opened the door and could barely see Caroline and Charlie. They had managed to pour out 2 full bottles of baby powder onto their beds, the floor, the changing table, and there was even some up the wall. They were covered! Everything was covered! Charlie kept repeating "It's broken. Mama, it's just broken." Caroline, however, wanted to make sure that I knew that this was all Charlie's idea. Once I was able to move without busting out into laughter, I took some pictures to use against them when they are teenagers (one of my favorite things to do). Then I started to think, surely all the things I did growing up won't come back on me ten fold. I have always heard that God has a sense of humor, but come on Lord, work with me here! Anyway, hope you all enjoy the pictures of one of the biggest messes I have cleaned since becoming a mother.

A First Time For Everything

Well, here I am attempting to blog. I never thought I'd be doing this, but, as I read an old friend's blog, I thought, "If Lori can do this, surely I can figure it out." Those of you who know Lori will understand and, Lori, I mean no offense. I thought this would be a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. That task is proving more and more difficult as the twins get in to more and more things. I am sure that most of my posts will be focused on them and things they have done. As a stay-at-home mom, what else am I going to write about? And, let's face it, most people want to know about them anyway. Please be patient with me as I try to figure out this tech stuff. I hope I can get pictures on tonight and I hope you check this site often for updates.