New Adventures!

Dan's grandfather passed away several days ago, and we went to Virginia for the funeral. It was my first time visiting Virginia, but it was also my first time meeting his dad's family. It's always a nerve-wracking time meeting extended family members for the first time. Even though we've been married for four years, I felt like we were courting again. You know what I mean...you want to make a good impression and feel accepted. So, basically, I had the girlfriend jitters again. But don't worry, it all went well, and I didn't embarrass myself (at least I don't think so). Of course, the boys help make good impressions; they tend to get most of the attention:)

This morning, the boys woke up in wonderful moods, and Grandpa was finally able to get on the floor and play with them for the first time. The last time he saw them, they were still too small to be much fun with him. I came out of the bedroom after finally getting myself ready and saw toys scattered all the over the living room floor. Right in the middle on the mess, Grandpa, Titus, and Peter sat in their own little world. Grandpa tried extremely hard this morning to teach Titus to say ball. And to my surprise, he has almost gotten ball down. Although, it sounds more like bah than ball, but he's getting there. Now, Grandpa can always say that he was the one to teach Titus how to say ball.

We went to the mall this afternoon, and boy, was it not much fun at the end. Dan and Grandpa were in the arcade while I took the boys outside and sat on a bench in the mall with the boys. You know things are going down hill quickly when passing shoppers offer assistance with sympathetic faces. I thought it would be a good idea to let them get out of the stroller and stand next to it. However, I didn't take into account that they move quickly now. They kind of look like human cockroaches. They scurry faster as you bend down to pick them up kind of how a cockroach scurries when you bend down to kill it. So, I wound up chasing them down in the hall of the mall. I was reaching my breaking point quickly, and the boys passed their breaking point many minutes before me. I really didn't want to bother Dan because he was having fun playing games with his dad, but he looked out and saw my frazzled self struggling to keep the boys happy. Needless to say, we left the mall. When we got home, they took the first nap they've taken in two days. Fortunately for me, Titus slept an hour, and Peter slept almost two hours. Thank goodness!!

Long Day!!

What a day! What a day! I decided to make Father's Day dinner today for Dad since revival starts Sunday, and it would just be a frustrating time to cook. I had all of his favorite foods: fried pork chops, green beans with bacon, creamed corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, and turtle cake. Never did I realize how this afternoon would go down hill quickly.

Karissa came over to help me finish things up because with twins it's hard to get things done when they're not napping. For some reason, they like to be right next to me (not that I would trade it for anything in the world). As she walked out of the kitchen with their juice cups, I hear her ask, "What's that?" As I looked over the kitchen counter, my blood began to boil, and I could feel my blood pressure rising. Belle (my husband's stupid dog) decided that the kitchen floor was the place to do #2 instead of outside where she had been not that long ago. Now, the part of the kitchen floor where she decided to go was right next to the gate; and of course, guess who was holding onto the gate at the time? You're right...Peter and Titus.

I didn't immediately see anything on their hands; but upon further inspection, there it was. Peter had poo on his face and hands. I got it off Peter while Karissa cleaned up the dog mess; and then, she gave Peter a bath while I cleaned the carpet. While she was bathing him, she had another exciting surprise. Peter decided it was his turn to poo:) So, she had to clean out the bath water and finish bathing him.

Now, during this entire process, Titus was screaming in his bed because he was alone and Peter was getting all of the attention. So, I picked up Titus and handed him to Karissa to play. That's when she discovered it. He had poo on his shirt underneath his bib. Great! Another bath! Karissa gave him a bath too because I needed to finish dinner. Fortunately, all Titus did in the water was splash some.

Dinner wound up being about 40 minutes late, but it tasted great if I do say! And Karissa now knows why I'm exhausted at the end of the day. She has also begged for forgiveness for praying that we would have another set of twins:) Tonight, she realized how much work they truly are. Many times, I've told her that there's only one reason people joke about us having another set of twins: they don't have twins! She completely understands now:) I'm so blessed to have them, but I also think one set of twins is plenty.

Pat on my Back!

One of the most dreaded parts of motherhood is always the weekly grocery run. You're always afraid that you're going to be "that mother." You know the one I'm talking about; she's the one that can't keep her children from disrupting everyone around her. Her children run around her knocking over everything and everyone in sight. They can be heard as soon as they walk through doors even though you're in the back right corner. As these children's screams pierce through your eardrum, you think, "I wish she let me have them for five minutes. I could straighten them out." If you're like me, you're always afraid that even though your children are normally even tempered, today will be the day that it all changes.

Well, yesterday was my dreaded weekly grocery run. The boys woke up from their nap, and I quickly feed them their lunch. I made sure to be ready to go before I fed them so that I would be able to leave right after I finished feeding them. They are always much more pleasant on full stomachs. But then again, what man isn't more pleasant on a full stomach? I pulled into Publix parking lot and began unloading the boys, praying for a good trip the entire time. I weaved through the door pulling a buggy and pushing the stroller while feeling the pity smiles as I passed other shoppers. The boys smiled and babbled to the pharmacist while we were waiting in the pharmacy line. So far, so good:)

As I began walking down the cereal aisle, I heard an older lady mumbling under her breath about someone having too many children. Then, I saw them. It was "that mother" and her children. Her children almost knocked the older lady off her feet. I followed the older lady down the next aisle as she mumbled about not having children if you can't make them mind. As I reach the halfway point of my shopping, I heard it. There was another "that mother" in the store. Her child was screaming and wouldn't be calmed. I smiled at my boys and said a prayer of thanks. It was about now when I started feeling like a supermom. People around me began telling me how good my boys were. One mom had 14 month twin girls that she left at home with their dad. She told me that she could never bring them out by herself. Others began telling me that I was obviously doing a good job. Yet another lady asked me what my secret was for keeping the smiles on their faces. I told her, "Feed them before you bring them out."

By the end of the grocery run, I was patting myself on the back. While I was patting myself on the back, I remembered the prayers that I had offered up before I began my grocery run. Not only did God answer my prayer about not being "that mother," but He also gave me some much needed encouragement. God answered my prayer with more than I asked. It's these seemingly small gestures that remind me that God will help me through this pregnancy while raising my two sons. He's also going to help me raise our new addition whether it is one or two (we find out tomorrow).