Lindsay Invades Houston

Aunt Lindsay came to visit this weekend.  She left her 3 kids and husband (you rock, Lee) in Nashville and braved our household for a few days.  I’ve looked to her for tons of twins advice since the 1^st day I found out we were having twins (she has twin 4  year old boys as well as a one year old son) and I’m so glad she came to witness our every day insanity.  The first day/night she kept saying how calm our household was but by day 3 I think she had seen everyone’s true colors come out.  We were all sad to see her go this morning, and are looking forward to seeing her and all the Ballew boys on the beach in a few months! 

Go Reds!

Sam has been practicing on Tuesday nights for his 1^st West U Little League game which was yesterday afternoon against the Rangers.  He played left field and 1^st base and got the Reds first out.  I wasn’t able to attend (but amazing Aunt Deta was there…see if you can spot her in the back of one of the above pictures) but heard ALL about it from Sam when he got home.  The thing I love most about every single picture is the permanent grin that Sam has on his face.  I don’t think we’ll be giving up baseball anytime soon.  Go Sam and the Reds!

Zoo Time

The weather has been amazing lately so Ben and I took advantage of it on Thursday and headed to the zoo.  We had a great time watching all the animals play around enjoying the 70 degree temperature.  It was one of the most fun and relaxing mornings that I’ve had in recent memory, and I think we’re both looking forward to returning again soon.

Future Workers of New York Police & Fire Departments

Thanks Uncle Jim & Greg for our shirts.  We want to wear them EVERY DAY!

Ready, Set, Go!

Sam, Ben, Jim & Greg worked tirelessly on painting some beautiful wooden race cars yesterday. This morning after the cars were dry, Sam & Ben attached the stickers (which don’t want to stick) to the 3 vehicles and “raced” them. Ben won round 1 and Sam won round 2. Sorry Jim, I guess there was a conspiracy against your vehicle since the driver had already left Houston!

From left to right, the cars were decorated by: Jim, Sam & Ben. There is SUCH talent in this family.

Ben Got a Job!

Ben was very busy this afternoon.  After lunch, he got in his car and said, "Bye, bye Mom.  I'm going to work so I can make some money."  About 2 minutes later, he turned his car around and shouts, "Mom, come push me so I don't spill my money." 

That must be quite the job if they are paying you in change!

Dad's Valentine's Day Breakfast

This post is WAY delayed, but a mom just sent me this cute picture of Scott and Ben at their Dad’s Valentine’s Day breakfast at SLDS.  Ben was so excited to have Scott join him at school.  It is such a fun tradition.

Howdy Partner

Baptism

Grace and Graham were baptized this morning at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church surrounded by many loved ones.  Thank you to everyone who traveled across Texas and the country to celebrate this special event with us!



The Twins 6 Month Check-Up

G&G had their six month appointments on Friday. Their stats are:

Grace

Height – 2’, 1.75” (50%)
Weight – 16 lbs, 6 oz (60%)
Head Circumference – 17.01 (75%)

Graham
Height – 2’, 2.75” (65%)
Weight – 17 lbs, 10 oz (55%)
Head Circumference – 17.01 (35%)

SIX MONTHS of twin insanity...and counting!

Grace & Graham at six months old

 A look back at their first six months...

In many ways, the past SIX months have come and gone in a blur. As I try to remember the months since the twins were born, three words keep coming to mind: exhaustion, luck & love.

Exhaustion
We have been exhausted from the very first day in the hospital. We started off with a wild birth and things continued to get insane the first night in our hospital room as we tried to figure out how to feed two babies at once, how to sooth two babies at once, how to change two babies at once, how to bathe two babies at once...you get the point. There are weeks right after they were born that I honestly don’t remember. And even now as they are sleeping well during the day and night, we still feel a little bit of exhaustion.

Luck
I will never forget being in Dr. Dryden’s office for my 10 week check-up. It was my 3rd pregnancy so I felt comfortable going alone as Scott was in NYC for work. Honestly, what could they show you on an ultrasound at 10 weeks besides a tiny heartbeat? What I saw that day, changed our lives forever. Not one healthy heartbeat but two. Sometimes people feel sorry for us that we had twins with our 3rd pregnancy. If you are one of those people…please don’t feel that way for another second. We’re lucky to have twins…we’re lucky to have four children…we’re lucky to have this big and rowdy family! I wouldn’t change it for anything!

I remember sitting in the waiting room at St. Luke’s waiting to be induced at almost 38 weeks. I was anxious to meet our sweet boy & girl and couldn’t believe as our induction time came and went. As Scott and I paced the hallways waiting to be called back, I still didn’t think about how truly lucky we were that I never had to be put on bedrest or hospitalized. As our twins were born in a nerve wracking setting, I never realized how lucky we were that they were both born healthy, with 10 fingers and toes & that they came immediately to our room with us. As we left the hospital just two days later with BOTH babies, I still didn’t think about how lucky we had been that they could both come home with us straight from the hospital.

We’re also lucky that the twins have Sam & Ben as older brothers. I personally can’t imagine what life would be like if I couldn’t ask the older boys to grab me a bib/burp cloth or watch a baby while I grab another from their crib. But mostly I feel that I’m lucky because the twins are constantly entertained by two crazy brothers who don’t sit down for a moment. They sing, they dance, they skip, they blow bubbles…pretty much anything to get a smile from a baby. I feel lucky that the twins were born 3 & 4.

I feel lucky that we’ve had so many amazing friends support us on a daily basis in Houston. Without them, my children would not have made it to school on many mornings, they would not have had a home cooked meal, they definitely would not have gone to the park. Many people put aside their lives for a moment (or many moments from people like my dear friends Ashley & Betsy) to help us out. We’ll never forget it!

And while I don’t have a picture of her on the blog, I feel an overwhelming amount of luck for finding the MOST AMAZING nanny on the planet. I feel lucky that a friend (who also has twins) allowed me to share her. If Sandra wasn’t in my life, I’m not sure how sane I would be right now. I call her the “baby whisper” and it’s not an over exaggeration. She has guided me through the 1st six months with grace, a constant smile and true love for our twins.

Even tonight, as I sit in the silent house…I feel lucky that the babies are so happy & healthy…that they sleep pretty well during the day and night…but mostly I just feel lucky that God brought both of them into our lives.

Love
My heart runneth over! I love, love, love the twins like I never thought possible.

Grace has the best two teeth smile that I’ve ever seen. She can lounge with the best of them and has always been an A+ eater. She’s feisty too and is already showing her independence by trying to sit up and getting in the early crawl, rocker position.

Graham has always had a cry that you couldn’t ignore. And even though he’s the more laid back of the two, he will flirt with every single person that passes by. He’s 100% addicted to his pacifier & can easily manipulate things with his hands.

G & G (as they are referred to often) we have loved every minute of the past six months. I’m looking forward to seeing how this adventure continues!

Will You Be Our Valentine?

Valentine's Day takes on a whole new meaning when you have children.  I love and adore Scott with all my heart, but once you have children you love like you never knew possible! 

I'm SO in love with my 6 Valentine's - Scott, Sam, Ben, Graham, Grace & Sadie.

Above is a Valentine's Day banner that we made for Scott. 
The feet left to right are: Graham * Ben * Sam * Grace

Long, Cold & No School Days

School hasn't been in session since Wednesday and it's been too cold to venture outside with the babies.  So, we had to become very creative on ways to entertain the boys for 4 days while being stuck indoors. 

We had a competition of who could throw their ball into the tent the most times in a row...

We stayed in our pajamas ALL DAY LONG...

We (actually Scott) made a fort that provided hours of entertainment...



We battled our Dad and brother (something we usually don't allow inside but you do what
you've got to do) while we pretended to be different Star Wars characters...

Fortunately, we were able to get out of the house today.  We had a great 4 days of hanging
out together, but we're ready for the cold weather to go away and the warm weather to stay!

Carseat Fun

All bundled up and ready to pickup Sam & Ben in 29 degree weather.  Brrrrrr!!!  

It's a Sleep Off!

Our sweet twins have been so kind to their mother lately. They’ve been sleeping champs. At night, Grace has been on a 12-13 hours sleeping trend while Graham wakes up starving to death after 10 hours (I’m not complaining though)!

This morning (after 2 hours in their cribs for their morning nap) Graham woke up chatting away. He sure was happy about something. After a bit, I went to retrieve them so we could pick up the older boys from school. Graham was so happy to see me while Grace was still snoozing away (I just hate waking up a sleeping baby).

Keep up the good work babies!