Beach Bound 2011!

We spent last week at Myrtle Beach.  We have been to Myrtle Beach many times, but this was the first year that Rick & I spent our summer vacation there.

Every Summer we have gone to Florida to visit my Grandparents, so this year was different for us.

But it was a lot of fun.

We feel especially blessed because we were able to plan our vacation around the time that Rick's Family was also going to be down there. So we were able to spend some time at the beach with them as well.

Papa & Emma taking a walk down the beach together

Molly & Nannie

This Silly Girl (Molly) was not afraid to get dirty!

Emma on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the sand!

Papa & Molly

Molly & Emma with their Grandparents

Cousin Savannah & Molly playing together

Emma was feeling crabby so I sat on the shoreline with her and softly sang to her

and she fell right asleep.

I loved this, because I cant remember the last time she fell asleep in my arms!

Her Nannie helped me lay out a chair so that she could sleep comfortably

and after about 15 minutes or so of her laying here...

The chair just FELL!

I was so nervous, I ran over there...and the girl didn't budge! haha

She Just kept on dreamin'!

Daddy, Molly, & Nannie

Emma Grace w/ Nannie

Sweet Molly & Her Papa

Daddy & Papa trying to help Molly walk

Hehe Silly Emma!

This is a Molly Classic Right Here! Haha LOVE this!

This is the face she made when she saw Papa coming with a bucket of water :-)

Emma Grace playing with her Cousin Jackson

& Sweet Little Molly in the background. :)

Molly & Savannah enjoying an afternoon swing together

The Girls 1st Golf Cart Ride!

Took them to "Bouncy Bouncy" & then to get some Pizza

They Loved it!

Molly & Daddy Bouncing on the Jumping Bean

Mommy & Emma Bouncing 

My Pretty Emma Grace with her Toes in the Water!

Lol...No worries Molly isnt Crying!

She is laughing & Splashing!

Molly "swimming" to Daddy

Silly Emma with her tongue sticking out!

The campground we stayed on had an inground baby pool!

It was only 2ft deep, and the girls loved walking around in it.

They felt like big girls :)

Enjoying  a Morning Snack on the Beach!

Talking some kinda business...

 Mommy & Emma

 Playing in the Splash Park with Daddy.
Emma was not wanting to really play in the splash park
 so she leads Daddy over to Mommy...

Takes me by the hand and takes me far far away from it! lol

Silly Smart Girl!

 

Emma Grace

Molly Ann

Emma letting me know she wants to be held :)

Daddy tried to get Emma to enjoy the beach water

but she really wasn't all that excited about it!

She preferred the pool!

Daddy & Emma

Mommy & Molly

 Daddy & Emma

Molly loved the sand!

(and she loved eating it too!)

Emma preferred to just sit in a chair & watch :)

Daddy helping Molly make mini sand castles

My little ham!

Molly kept climbing out of the pool & then giggling about it.

 

Back in her comfort zone...Emma loves the pool!

Our last night we went and listened to Kareoke.
There was over 100 people but it was so much fun!
Even though it was way past the girls bedtime, they did very well!
Emma walking around listening to some music!

We had a lot of great moments this past week, but I never imagined that going on vacation with toddlers would be so hard! Last year they were 5 months old when we went on vacation and they were perfect angels the entire time!

This year they were 15 months old, and while they will always be Mommy's Angels...they were not so perfect. ha!

For one they were not able to stick to their sleep schedule and for two, they didn't have their toys & their normal surroundings so they depended on us constantly for attention.

And when we wanted to go out to eat...they would have nothing to do with sitting still for us to eat.

So it was just hard, but we made it! AND we would do it all over again. :-)

I am assuming vacation next year will probably be a lot less stressful since they will be much older.

I know even though they can't tell us, they enjoyed a new scenery & routine while it lasted. :-)

 We really enjoyed ourselves and are very thankful that Aunt Stacey let us come share some memories with them while they were vacationing also.

NOW if someone could please come pick up my sweet little angels for me....

I need a vacation from vacation! haha ;-)

You may view all vacation pictures here

Happy 4th of July!

This is Emma 4th of July last year

And this is Emma 4th of July This Year!

 (not the best picture but all I had was a cellphone & a little girl who didn't want her picture made ;) )

Molly on the 4th last year

Molly this year!

Notice how the dresses they wore last year ended up being the shirts they wore this year :)

I was quite proud of myself for being so resourceful! ha!

After the girls had their nap we went to Sandhills Freedom Festival where we met some friends. They had tents, & bands, & of course we had to hit up all the 4th of July sales inside the mall. We struck some AMAZING deals!

For Dinner we tried a new Pizza Place...well new as in we have never eaten there before. I think it was called Brixx....it was fabulous!

Rick, Molly, Emma, & Me

Sandhills Freedom Festival

Emma strutin' her self through the festival.

Once it got dark the fireworks started and Emma stayed awake & watched them with us.
Molly however pooped out. :)

Daddy & Emma watching the fireworks!

Happy 4th Everyone!

We Hope You All  Were Able to Enjoy this Holiday with Your Loved Ones!

Happy Birthday!

Happy 8th Birthday Willie!

Today is my little Brother William's 8th Birthday!

We celebrated at his favorite place--Chuckee Cheese!

He is an active little boy, and loves all the games there!

Uncle William isn't the only one who enjoyed the games.

Here is Jolly Molly on the horsey w/ Aunt Kirasten!

My Little Emma Being her Silly Self!

She wanted nothing to do with riding any rides!

She made me so proud today though!

She walked from the car, all the way inside to Chuckee Cheese holding my hand like a big girl!

It was the 1st time I didn't have to carry her! :(

Molly playing w/ Granny's jewerly

Molly eating some salad waiting on her pizza to come.

The girl eats anything!

I would say Emma is enjoying her pizza :)

Molly, Kirasten, & William

William alslo celebrated his birthday last year at Chuckee Cheese!

Here is a picture of the girls this same time last year. :)

(click it to enlarge)

Happy Anniversary!

Today is 3 years since...

Our Wedding Day!

We had a sitter for today and for tomorrow as well so that we could have some much needed time together.

Here is a quick shot of me and my pretty girls right before we left. 

It was a bitter sweet time being away from all the work two toddlers brings. And though my body "rested", my mind was working overtime. I could not stop thinking about them, worrying about them, and feeling guilty for not being with them.

I guess that just comes with being a mom.

These little people are always linked to us, no matter how far we try to run :)

This is the huge wave pool at Carowinds!

The wave pool was the most fun for me! I loved it. They crank up those waves for about ten minutes straight every 15 minutes or so, and I swear...if these were waves at the beach they would have a red flag up for sure!

They were so big, and strong,and fast... if I didn't have a float to hold on to, I seriously would have drowned!

But the thrill made it SO exciting!

This is a random ole man, shamelessly sporting his Umbrella Hat around in public!

I mean WHO knew, that such thing even exsisted? HA! Crack Me Up!

And we got LOTS of sun on our full day at the water park!

These past three years have been some of the most trying times of my life! We have had a whirlwind of events surround us during the short time we have been married.

Just in the first 6 months of our new marriage, Rick's Plant he was at for 10 years shut down, so we were on a very limited  one income for a while, and during that time we had a dear friend of mine in need of a place to stay, move in with her 2 younger children.

 Rick finally got hired on with a wonderful company just in time for me to get laid off, almost immediately after. And then my friend moved out and that same week we started foster parenting, where we met "Monkey Boy" ( as u know him) and his sister Olga.

5 months into that, their Aunt came along and wanted him back, and the day she picked him up for good from us...was the same day I found out I am pregnant with twins!

It's no secret I had a horrible pregnancy. I could not get out of bed for anything because my body was so incredibly weak. If I had to imagine what Death felt like....it was all the ways I felt the first 4 months of my pregnancy. So many days I swore I would not survive my pregnancy. I was so miserable & weak that Rick had to come home on his lunch breaks to bring me Ice out of the freezer. I was so weak that I literally could not get out of bed to walk to the kitchen for fluids even though  my life depended on it. I rarely had to use the restroom bc I stayed so dehydrated. Rick lost 20 lbs during my pregnancy because He could not cook in the house. Every little smell, had me hurling my guts out. After losing 12 pounds and about 3-4 times of being hospitalized for dehydration, I had to stay hooked up to an IV pump  at home that kept anti-nausea meds in me 24/7. After a couple months of wearing that I slowly began to regain strength, and was able to eat & drink some things again. 
AND just as soon as I was feeling human again I got diagnosed with TTTS where I lived in fear of my children's lives for the next 8 weeks in the hospital.  Then the babies were born and I did not miss a single day of being with them during their 4 week stay at NICU...and once they came home I finally felt like my life was Whole Again.

We established a routine, and "whew!" we can finally breathe!

That "whole" feeling didnt last long, just 4 months after my girls came home my Grandma passed away, and I have been damaged in ways I could never explain.

And now our itty bitty babies are now tantrum throwing toddlers :) Who keep us very very exhausted & busy. But when I think back to the days I thought I would never get to watch them grow up, their tantrums bring me some twisted sense of relief.

I say All that to say, Our lives have been so hectic during these past 3 years. We have had a series of events surround us, and through it all our love has remained stable.   There is no other person in this world that I could have surrived these times with.
Every trying moment we have worked through and every blessing we have counted.

My dad has told me often how he sees me & Rick celebrating our 25 years together. And that makes me feel so proud when I hear that.

I know that no one else on earth could love me the way Rick does, and I don't even feel  I am deserving of a love so great. But I am thankful beyond anyones imagination that I have it.

As a mom, and also going through the grieving process of losing my Grandma, I have had many stressful moments. Okay, Countless Stressful Moments. So on the outside, I may not always look all the blessed ways I feel on the inside. But even on my hardest days, I am sure to tell Rick how much I love him and how very special he is to me.

I could not imagine this life without him. To me there would be no life without him.

He is the best person in the world to me and the only person that has ever made me feel like pure gold.

I love him more than I could ever show or say.

Happy 3rd Anniversary Baby, and I look forward to many many more.

15 Months

15 Months

sisters & best friends

Hold on, I need a tissue....

Okay. I am back.

Seriously...15 months? How did this happen so fast?

I am having the time of my life being their Mommy!

I have my occassional days that I would like to jump off a bridge, haha...but nothing in the world compares to the joy they bring me.

They are Beautiful, Amazing Little Girls. And while I do miss them being my 4 & 5 pound little girls, I am so excited about the toddlers they are turning into!

I can't wait to see what the future holds for our lives together as they grow

 from our sweet babies, to our sweet big girls!

My Sweet Molly Bear,

At 15 Months you are right at 16 pounds with your clothes on.

You are My Little Rug Rat! I am convinced You crawl faster than Emma can walk!

You make Mommy giggle every time you are crawling a direction you aren't suppose to be, you always turn your head over your shoulder to see if I am looking and when you see me coming for you, you up your speed  x's 20 ! lol 

Mommy tells you, that you can run...  but never fast enough that I can't catch you. :)

Your Climbing continues to amaze me. You know how to climb on anything you want to get to!

Including, climbing in the Storybook bucket @ the Library's storytime! :)

Silly Girl! :)

You have gone from emptying out all of your drawers on the bottom drawer, to now emptying out the drawer above that one too! So now, Mommy has TWICE the amount to clean up after you have had a hard days play!

One of the things that melts my heart the most, is when you and your sister on your own go to your bedroom and play.  Whenever I go in there to check on you, I am SURE I am about to find you girls into a big mess you aren't suppose to be in, because you are SO quiet....but nope. You are just sitting there next to eachother playing with your toys.

It makes me want to cry everytime I see this, because it is just one more reminder of how big you are getting. And how you are growing from my baby to my big girl, right before my eyes!

You are waiving Bye Bye, and Hello all the time now. It is so cute to me how you waive. You waive with an open hand while moving your arm up & down.

Everytime Mommy tells you your food is all gone, you clap your hands. You are a wonderful eater! You eat almost everything we eat. You are not a very picky eater. But you do have Your favorites. Right now they are Chicken Nuggets, Carrots, Oatmeal, Banannas,& Yogurt.

Lately, you have been eating more than Emma!

 

You are like a little squirrel when you eat! you pack them jaws as tight as you can with food! This makes mommy so nervous because you are not the best chewer! You love to fill the mouth up and then just swallow! So I have to be very careful about how much food I put on your tray at a time. You love to overload!

You now have 4 teeth! 2 top & 2 bottom! And a 3rd one trying to come through up top as well.

Mommy thinks you look super extra adorable when you have pig tails in your hair!

  

You also now have enough hair for a big girl pony tail!
A short stubby pony tail, but one nonetheless! :)

You are still in Phyisical Therapy twice a week. You are getting much better with using your leg/foot but you still have a ways to go before you will be able to walk. I have faith that you will get there, and what a huge milestone that will be! I can't wait to see you achieve it!

You make the silliest faces! Your facial expressions demonstrate how much personality you have!

One face in particular, I love and it is my favorite face of all! It is your " I don't think so" face...you make it whenever something isn't the way you want it to be.

It looks like this....

                

         scrunched up nose, and an open mouth...

And when you are being REALLY dramatic, that face looks like this!

haha! It makes me laugh every time!

You now say "uh" ...like... "-uh-oh" but it is just the "uh!" and you say it with a suprised look on your face!

Anytime you drop something, you say "uh" and whenever you see Emma fall down, you say really suprised looking " UH!"  it makes Mommy & Daddy giggle everytime!

You seem to be more dependant on Mommy.  You whine to be held a lot, and you like me to do everything for you. You still have a lot of "baby" in you, but Mommy will let you be her baby as long as possible! :) Even if it does absolutley wear me out some days...:)

Everytime you wake up whether in the morning or from a nap, as soon as you see Mommy or Daddy come into the room you Cheese the absolute biggest grin, and you squeal "Hey" as you are bouncing up & down in your crib! You continue to be my snuggle bug. You love to cuddle.  You are my Angel!  

A prissy, dramatic angel, that is :-)

Mommy is so very proud of you! You are my special girl and I love you so much!

My Sweet Emma Grace,

At 15 Months you are right at 18 lbs with your clothes on.

You are My Big Girl! Though you are a whole minute younger than your sister, you are definitley the Big Sister in more than one way!

You weigh more and you are the leader! You get your sister into a whole lot of trouble because she has to do everything you do! LOL

J/K on the trouble part, but you do teach her how to get into a lot of no-no places! Lol

The two of you humor me, how you have to copy eachother!
You can go all day with a bow in your hair but if you see Molly take her bow out, you immediately have to take yours out too.

Mommy loves to try and play with your hair but you rarely let me. You always move my hands away, shake your head, and squirm out of my lap.
You are very independant, and love to be busy. Whenever your sister gets a paci, toy, or cup...you have to rush over and be all up in her space because you want what she has :)

If she is climbing on something, you have to climb on it too.

You are now walking everywhere! And I mean everywhere! Mommy smiles really big on the inside when she sees you trottin' around the house. I can't believe this time is already here!

You just got dismissed from your Physical Therapy! Yay!

You are so cute when you waive bye-bye! You waive by opening and closing your hand.

You clap with a big grin on your face,whenever Mommy tells you, your food is all gone, or whenever you hear "yay!"  OR whenever you have decided on your own that you are done eating. You clap to let me know! lol

You are very peculiar when you eat.  Certain textures annoy you. And somethings you just will not eat. Hamburger meat is not a favorite for you! But you do love you some chicken nuggets! 

When Mommy tries to give you a bite of food and you still have food in your mouth from a previous bite, you will shake your head no and you will not take the next bite until you have swallowed your food! I love this about you!

You have 2 top teeth & 2 bottom. And You have more teeth that will be coming up top very soon!

You know where your nose is!

When Mommy says "Where's Emma's nose?" You smile really big and point to your nose with your index finger.

And when Mommy says "Where's Mommy's Nose"  You giggle and squeeze my nose!

It was a major proud Mommy moment when I first saw you do this!

In the mornings or in the afternoons after nap time, you smile so very big when you see mommy or daddy come into the room! You get so excited you squeal "hey" as you are literally jumping up and down!

One thing that you recently started to do, is when you get sleepy, you will go to your room and get your blankie and you will walk around the house with the blankie against your face until Mommy lays you down. I absolutely LOVE seeing you do this. I can't believe how fast you are growing up!

           Emma walking to her room at bedtime

           It brings tears to my eyes, she looks like such a big girl!



Anytime you hear "bouncy bouncy bouncy" you smile really big, giggle, and then bounce up and down! It is precious! Here is a video of you going bouncy on your Zebra!

You and Molly often fight over whose turn it is to be on the Zebra! I actually caught a picture of you two debating whose turn it was! Click picture to enlarge. (Must see Molly's face! LOL)

Mommy sits on the floor with you girls everyday, and you and your sister have made me your personal jungle gym! You grab on to my clothes, and pull yourself on to every inch of my body. And if I have Molly on one leg, and you on the other, you seem to always end up on Molly's side.

The two of you fight over me quite often. :)

A whole house full of toys, and the remote controls, and My cell phone seem to be your favorites! You are told 100 times a day you cant play with those but it never stops you from trying!

When Mommy tells you "No No", you love to act like you didn't hear me but I know you do because I can tell by the look in your eye brows. You raise those brows when you are feeling sassy.

You screech now! When you are mad, or when you want me to give you something, (like if im feeding you and Molly at the same time, and I am not giving you your next bite fast enough..) .. you Screech at me with SO MUCH sas in your brow!

You are a chunk of mess! :)

You are my special baby girl! And I love you so very much!

Molly & Emma,

Mommy & Daddy are very proud of the big girls you are turning into!

Happy 15 Months!

Birthday Celebrations!

Today is my Baby Brother's 14th Birthday! It is so hard to believe that he is already 14. I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday! He was such a beautiful, happy little boy! Really was just an amazing little baby!

And he is still so precious to me! :)

Tomorrow is Grandmomma's Birthday, ( Terry's Mom) so today we celebrated both of their birthdays!

Waiting to blow out the candles, while the rest of us are singing to them :)

And there they go! :)

Megan & Emille wanted a picture with Molly & Emma....

And this is what we got! :)

Sweet Cousins walking around the house with Emma!

Happy Birthday Parkman! And Happy Birthday to you Grandmomma!

We Love You Both so Very Much!

Happy Father's Day!

Dear Daddy,

Thank you for all you do for our family. Thank you for working extra hard  so that Mommy can stay home with us. Thank you for spending time with us first thing every morning, so that Mommy can get some extra rest before her day begins. We love our Daddy Daughter time with you. Thank you for making us giggle,  Thank you for Playing with us, Thank you for teaching us, Thank you for laughing with us, Thank you for being the BEST Daddy we could ever want! 

Most of all, Thank you for loving us!

You are so Good to us, and we love you so much more than we could ever put into words!

Love Always,

Emma & Molly :-)

This is Rick last year, on his 1st Father's Day as a Daddy!

(Emma-Left, Molly Right)

And Father's Day this year!
(Molly-Left, Emma-Right)

We had a very busy day today!

We went to breakfast with My Dad, and afterwards came home for the girls to get a nap, and then since today was also my little brother's birthday, we headed over to Terry's to celebrate with family over a nice dinner!

Rick's dad was working so we sadly didnt get to see him today!

Dear Rick,

Thank you for being the wonderful father that you are. You go over and beyond to provide for our family, and you even go the extra mile in being hands on with our girls so that I don't have to do it alone.

 You are so loving, fun, and dependable. I feel so priviledged that my children have such a wonderful Daddy in You.

I Love You More & More Each Day!

Happy Father's Day!!!

I made a really cute card for Rick from the girls. Included pictures, handprints, etc. He Loved it!

Hope You All Had A Great Day!